The Crucial Miscalculation
by Kayah371
Summary: What seems like another adventure quickly causes a chain of events that turns out to be the origin of something Rick never suspected he would accidentally create. The consequences of his actions might just be the downfall of the world as he knows it.
1. Chapter 1: (Not) Another Adventure

**A/N: This is my first _Rick and Morty_ fanfic so please don't be too harsh! So I think the cover art pretty much gives away what this is going to be about... I will do my best to update at least once a week but as you all probably know life often gets in the way, so I don't want to promise anything and then leave you hanging! This may get dark at some point...but this is _Rick and Morty_ after all! What else were you expecting?**

Green ominous portals appearing on walls or occasionally on either ceilings or the floor had long ago stopped surprising the Smith family. As soon as the faint green light illuminated their pale faces Beth would look at it with mild annoyance on her face (clearly trying to suppress her congenital curiosity and fascination), Summer would raise her eyebrows and Jerry would either sigh angrily or mutter a curse word under his breath.

Each time the portal appeared Morty's heart would skip a beat as he braced himself for another extraordinary adventure. Sometimes it was Rick dragging a half-alive alien into his garage to harvest its organs just because some if its tissue was psychedelic and he could smoke it. Sometimes he was only stopping by to take Morty to another dimension to bring down an authoritarian government (or establish it in some cases) or do other incredible things. Other times they would find the version of Earth on which people never evolved from cavemen and treated Rick and Morty like gods.

They would laugh at those people and relax separating themselves from mundane every-day tasks or evil constantly chasing after them. Morty loved these rare moments of bliss the most as he could spend time with his grandpa and trick himself into thinking that Rick actually cared about him.

This time though it was different. Out of the green substance emerged Rick, but as soon as Morty laid his eyes on him, he knew it was not the Rick he identified as his grandpa. This one was not wearing his lab coat but instead he had a white uniform on and black gloves. And when he looked at Morty his eyes were different somehow, even if they were still the same cold ones.

"Hey, where's your Rick?" The familiar stranger asked directing his words at Morty. His eyes narrowed as if whatever it was that he wanted couldn't possibly mean anything good for anyone.

"Excuse me? Rick? What is going on?" Jerry asked from his spot at the table with a fork stuck mid-air, between his mouth and the plate. "What is this supposed to mean?"

Rick pulled out his hip-flask and took a long sip before burping ostentatiously. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and glared at Jerry. "Even if I told you, your mentally challenged brain wouldn't catch on, so be a good sport and go back to dusting your coins or whatever." He said dismissively before turning back to Morty. "Where is Rick?" He repeated slowly, as if tasting each and every word on his tongue.

"Agh, ugh…" Morty stumbled over his worlds, not quite able to understand what was going on himself. "In the garage, I guess." He said, already used enough to the weird things happening to him not to question why his grandpa dressed in a weird outfit wanted to talk to his grandpa. He remembered Rick telling him many times that most dimensions had their own versions of the two of them, so it had to be Rick from some weird world where clothes like that were normal.

"Alright, the bastard's here." Rick said and immediately another two Ricks emerged from the portal. Morty just stared at them wide-eyed occasionally blinking as three equally terrifying versions of his grandfather walked towards the garage.

"What…who does he think he is?" Jerry said angrily raising his voice. "I can't stand him anymore! Why have I done to deserve to live in such hell?" He whined, his face getting slightly red.

"Chill out, dad." Morty said standing up from the table and abandoning his plate full of delicious food. "I'm going to see what's going on." He said before he heard the sounds of fighting.

As scared as he was to see what mess Rick had gotten himself into he walked through the living room to see the other versions of his grandfather try to handcuff the original Rick. "Leave me alone, you stupid motherfuckers!" He said before kicking one of them in the groin area.

Noticing Morty standing at the door he grabbed the portal gun and tried to use it but one of the Ricks threw himself at him making them both stumble to the floor. Morty quickly ran towards them wanting desperately to do something to help Rick. "Oh, Jeez, Rick. What do I do?" He asked looking over the counters in search for something he could use as a weapon.

But the other Rick already got his hands on him, trying to put some weird handcuffs around his wrists. "Grab it." Rick called tossing the portal gun towards his grandson. It landed right next to him but before the boy could do anything one of the Ricks in the uniform wrapped his arms around his waist trying to drag him away.

"You are under arrest. Don't fight us. It's entirely pointless." He said but Morty somehow found enough strength to get out of his hold and fall onto the floor. He could see his Rick fight two other Ricks in the corner of his eye but for now he had to ignore it. Instead he crawled towards the portal gun as fast as he could, doubling his efforts in order to work with Rick still trying to hold him back. "Hey, the Citadel will rip your balls out one way or another. Your efforts won't mean anything." Morty ignored his words and grabbed the gun.

He looked over at his Rick, searching for some kind of tip as to what to do. But he was too busy fighting off two other Ricks. He needed to type in the dimension code so he randomized it (he had no idea why Rick even had that option) and the green portal appeared in front of his face. "No matter what shithole you chose to hide in we _will_ find you."

"We'll see about that." Morty said, struggling to make his way over to the portal. He felt his ankle being held back so he couldn't quite get there but then his ankle was suddenly free and he saw his very own Rick walk into the portal.

"C'mon, Morty!" Rick called after him. "These idiots are going to wake up eventually." Morty took a brief look at the scene behind him, at three identical Ricks lying unconsciously on the floor and followed Rick into the green doorway to another dimension. "What the fuck, Morty?" He heard Rick ask as his eyes adjusted to the bright light suddenly shining right into his eyes.

Morty blinked his eyes a few times before realizing where he had sent them. They were in the middle of a dessert with dark green sand instead of yellow. And it wasn't hot. It was unbelievably cold even though two suns were shining brightly on the sky. "Well…I'm not sure." The boy admitted scratching his head and looking at his surroundings in confusion.

Rick sighed loudly going through his pockets. "Give me the portal gun, Morty."

Morty's eyes widened out when he realized that he wasn't holding the device anymore. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he looked into his grandpa's unforgiving eyes. "Rick…I…I think I must have left it there."

For a brief second Rick was completely silent as Morty waited for him to blow up and yell at him. But instead the old man's face relaxed as he pulled out his hip-flask and took a long sip. "Congratulations." He said. "You just killed us both."

"Well, I'm sorry for not thinking straight while your clones were attacking us!" Morty yelled, unable to agree that it was all his fault.

"Those were not…ugh…why do I even bother?" Rick took another drink of his liquor, his voice still remaining calm.

"I'm sure there's something you can do!" Morty rushed to say, the panic raising his voice an octave or two. "Can't you just make a new one or something? You're the smartest man in the universe after all!"

"Are you a fucking moron, Morty?" Rick asked sharply, his drool slowly dripping from his mouth. "Who do you think I am? How am I supposed to build the most desirable device in every single dimension using just sand that looks like it's been mixed with some disgusting alien's green shit?"

Morty ducked his head wrapping his arms around his torso trying to protect himself at least in some way from both harsh weather and his grandpa's words. "I'm sorry."

"Well, your sorry won't save us." Rick said taking a gun that only now Morty noticed had been hooked to his belt. He looked at it closely and reloaded it.

"What do we do now?" Morty asked, desperately needing to hear some kind of reassurance.

"We walk." Rick said looking into the distance with narrowed eyes. "We walk and hope we come across some kind of civilization before I run out of alcohol."

Without another word Rick started walking ahead. Morty quickly followed him feeling guilt eat at his insides. Because of him they were in a place that could possibly be completely lacking in intelligent life forms. Or maybe there were life forms that would kill them in one swift move without the two of them even knowing what was going on.

Morty felt like crying. Like he had screwed up so badly that Rick would never trust him with anything again. He looked at the old man but his eyes were a puzzle that he couldn't solve. He was never able to read his emotions, if he had any.

As they walked in silence Morty felt like his legs were slowly giving up. His spirit was breaking and the coldness was overpowering. While on the other hand despite the weather Rick seemed to be doing fine. As if they were still in their warm house. The man looked over at his grandson and held his gaze for a moment before he took off his lab coat and tossed it at Morty.

The boy caught it out of instinct, surprised that Rick would sacrifice his own well-being for him. "Thanks, Rick." He said with a soft smile putting it on. Even though the coat was too long for him and it wasn't all that warm or pleasant, it still managed to make him feel slightly less miserable.

"Wouldn't want the cold to kill you before the possibly murderous creatures inhibiting this planet get the chance." He said, so clearly wanting Morty to think that he didn't care about him at all. "Or other versions of me for that matter."

"Why are they even chasing you? What is this all about?" Morty asked, suddenly remembering how bizarre the whole situation in the garage had been.

"I don't care." Rick said taking another sip out of his hip-flask and burping loudly. "They have a lot of reasons to chase me. Now I need to hide somewhere." He looked over at Morty. "But for that I need the fucking portal gun."

Morty looked away again, cursing himself for not being smart enough to help Rick. The thought that they could never see their family again almost caused him to cry but he quickly chased it away when he remembered who exactly he was stuck with. He looked at the world surrounding them and hoped that something out there would help them get home.


	2. Chapter 2: Flickering Light

Rick was looking straight ahead with his hands shoved deep into his pockets looking so casual that it appeared as if he was just on a pleasant walk. But Morty knew that the gears in his head were turning and he was working on a solution for their problem.

After an hour of walking one of the suns set making the world around them darker and harsher. Morty pulled Rick's coat closer around his body but he was still shivering. He didn't dare to say anything about it though as it was all his fault anyway and Rick wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"I…I really didn't mean for this to happen." Morty apologized one more time not really knowing what he was doing it for. Maybe their not so fortunate situation was getting to his head or his tongue was paralyzed because of the cold. Either way the intensity of the emotions going through his mind mixed with overbearing sense of guilt was certainly slowly making him insane.

"Shut up, Morty." Rick said suddenly coming to a halt.

"Really, Rick. What do you want me to do? Fall onto my knees and beg for your forgiveness? You know what? I have my pride…very little of it…but still." Morty said, angry at both Rick and himself at this point. He was cold, hungry and too depressed to control his emotions.

"Keep quiet, you idiot." Rick said in a softer voice, pointing towards what looked just like regular sand…regular in that dimension at least. "Look over there. We're not alone."

Morty squinted his eyes looking into the direction Rick was pointing. Eventually he noticed something shiny flickering in the dim sunlight. "What is this?" He asked in a whisper.

Rick checked his gun, reloading it a few times. Then he looked over at Morty with a mask of calmness and indifference on his face. "We might us well check it." He said. "Whatever it is may just end our suffering."

"Or help us get home?" Morty asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure." Rick said half-heartedly. "Check the pockets and come on."

Morty did as he was told and found a miniature gun hidden in one of the pockets. He examined the device that didn't appear like a deadly weapon at all and looked at his grandpa. "Ugh, Rick? How am I supposed to protect myself with it?"

"Quit whining like a little bitch." Rick said taking another sip of his liquor. "It's one of my latest inventions. Do you seriously think that only big guns can hurt you? Don't be naïve." He shook the flask a few times and titled it over his open mouth but only a single drop landed on his tongue. "Well, that's our cue to go."

They walked quietly towards the light, Morty's heart pounding loudly in his chest as they got closer and closer to the mysterious item. At some point Morty held up the gun, gripping it tightly and aiming at the faint light. His hands were shaking but it was giving him reassurance.

Rick on the other hand looked just as calm as before when he ruthlessly approached the item and picked it up. He held it between his fingers, bringing it closer to his face. "You're holding a broken watch at a gunpoint, Morty." He said eventually. "It's old and worthless…but it means that this dimension must have some kind of civilization similar to ours…or at least it used to have." He said throwing the watch back into the sand.

"So…what now?" Morty asked, feeling all the hope left his body.

Rick looked around, his shoulders visibly tensing, the only sight that he wasn't completely comfortable. "I don't want you to freak out but I'm afraid this world might be dead."

"How is that supposed to not make me freak out?" Morty asked, finally allowing himself to cry a little. His eyes welled up with tears but they weren't rolling down his cheeks yet. "I will never see my family again. I will never go out with Jessica."

"To be fair the chances of that last one happening were never that big to begin with." Rick commented.

"I will never graduate." Morty went on clenching his free hand into a fist. "I will die on an alien world with the most bitter man in the entire universe."

"Multiverse." Rick corrected him.

Morty felt his legs give up, so he allowed himself to fall down onto the cold sand. He looked up at some small lights flickering above his head thinking about the stars he would never get to see again. "Thanks, Rick. Thanks for ruining my entire life with your _science_."

Rick kept looking at him with cold eyes but apparently seeing his grandson like that made him slightly more sympathetic as his face cleared and he sat down next to Morty. "You know…I once ended up on a planet with nothing but small spider-like creatures that would crawl all over your skin and bite you all the fucking time. Can you even imagine something like that? A goddamn nightmare."

"Yeah, but you had your portal gun…and now we have nothing but these silly guns." He tossed his to the side. "All because of me…and because of you."

"Grow up, Morty. Whining won't change a thing." Rick said, his voice still strong. Morty wished he could remain so calm about this.

"Will anything?" Morty asked still feeling his tears lurk behind his eyes. "We will just die here and it will be it for us. I just wish…I wish I had the courage to…" Morty didn't get to finish as suddenly a fishing net landed on them, pinning them to the ground. "What the fuck?"

"Shh…stay quiet." Rick said with his face stuck to the sand.

Morty didn't move his body but he did reach out his hand for the gun. He sighed in relief once his fingers touched the cool surface and he was able to hide it back into his pocket. "What the hell, Rick? What is going on?"

"Shut the fuck up, Morty. For once do as I say." Rick said sternly even though his voice was quiet.

Suddenly someone with a mask on their face towered over Morty almost making him scream. The boy froze as the mysterious person grabbed the fishing net with them trapped in it and started pulling it as they walked away. Morty looked over at Rick who wasn't doing anything at all, just lying and watching everything. "Why aren't we doing anything?" Morty asked just as he noticed that there were three different masked strangers pulling at the net.

"I have a plan." Rick said calmly. "Trust me, Morty."


	3. Chapter 3: Making New Friends

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews!**

Morty's fear was quickly replaced by a strange kind of excitement. They weren't alone. They could still be saved. Maybe these people would find for Rick what he needed to make another portal gun. But they could also kill them. Or torture. Or both.

Morty swallowed hard staring at the sun and stars above his head. He wasn't quite able to decide if he was terrified or stupidly hopeful.

Morty felt like they were being dragged for eternity. He was thankful for Rick's coat since it not only was the only thing stopping him from freezing to death but it also prevented the net from encroaching into his skin. Rick still looked composed even though his hand was resting on his gun which he was clearly trying to hide from their kidnappers.

Eventually the strangers stopped, moved a few things around and continued pulling on the net. Suddenly the sky above Morty's head was replaced by complete darkness. He started panicking but one look at Rick's face convinced him to stay silent.

A few minutes later a bright light appeared blinding Morty. When his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness he noticed people all around them, staring at them in complete silence and what seemed to be utter shock. They looked mostly like humans but there was something about them reminding Morty of zombies.

Their eyes were wide open and their whites slightly yellow. Their skins were either grey or green. Most of them were bald while some had disgusting wounds instead of hair. Morty was even able to notice few with visible mutations, like third hand growing out of their stomach or a completely messed up face.

He swallowed hard wondering why they looked the way they did. The strangers stopped moving and took off their masks revealing equally damaged faces. One of them, a muscular man with an additional nose on his forehead pulled away the net from their bodies staring down at them as if they were rare animals displayed in the zoo.

Rick immediately stood up and only them Morty noticed that they were in some kind of cave with no furniture, just big rocks that were apparently supposed to be chairs for them. Rick dusted off his clothes and looked over at the people. "We come in peace." He began putting his gun on the ground in front of him. "My name is Rick Sanchez and this is my grandson. We kind of got lost on the way, so would anyone tell me what planet it is?"

The stranger raised his eyebrows, looking both afraid and confused. "This is Earth."

"Oh, shit." Rick said, seeming horrified. He looked over at Morty and then back at the man. "Ugh…then…is this how it's supposed to look like or did someone mess up?" He asked folding his arms over his chest.

Morty slowly lifted himself up feeling his heart pound loudly in his chest. His hand was still wrapped around the gun but no one seemed to care about that. "Is this some kind of joke? Who are you and why do you look like that?" One of them asked, looking around in confusion.

"Congratulations. You've just met the smartest man in the universe." Rick said bitterly reaching for his flask, clearly more out of instinct than anything else. His face barely scrunched when he remembered that it was empty. "I know it may come as a shock to you but I have the ability to travel through different dimensions…" He paused for a moment but the stranger remained silent. "It _is_ beyond your comprehension, isn't it?" Only then Morty noticed that Rick's hands were just barely shaking and he was slurring a little. "God, Morty. Why did you have to get us to a world where people don't know the basic concepts of physics?"

Morty could only imagine that he was acting so strange because he was craving alcohol so much. He hoped they would return home soon. "What happened?" Morty asked dumbly looking at all the terrified people.

"You will speak with the chief." The double-nosed man said nodding his head, as if making that decision required a lot of wit.

Rick kept looking at him with half-closed eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Fine." He said. "Come on, Morty. It's time to take this shit over." Morty looked around but it seemed like no one was taking Rick's threat seriously.

As they walked through the cave people kept moving away from them, as far as they possibly could. Only the double-nose didn't seem to mind not keeping his distance. Looking over at his grandpa Morty kept seeing how uneasy he was, how he was trying to hide his shaking hands deep in his pockets.

They reached a wide hole in the wall, covered only by a massive rock. "Your architecture, man. It's really something worth seeing." Rick said sarcastically but double-nose didn't seem to get it as he just nodded his head in acknowledgment and proceeded to remove the rock.

Morty watched as in a matter of seconds the rock was gone and double nose was standing next to it and breathing heavily. "The chief will see you."

"Don't say anything." Rick said immediately. "Just let grandpa do the talking and stay back." He looked over at their guide and then lowered his voice into a whisper. "And you know…be ready to make use of that when the time is right." Rick said glancing down at the miniature gun still held firmly in Morty's hand.

"Ugh…okay." Morty murmured looking around uncertainly, half-expecting some kind of disgusting creature to jump at them. He didn't want to use violence against anyone but he was desperate to get back home and away from this rotting place. Killing someone didn't seem so out of question anymore.

They entered the hole to find a place unlike what they had seen until then. The place looked actually quite cozy. Colorful mushy carpets were on the ground and this part of the cave was fully-furnished with real chairs, tables and even some paintings on the walls.

In the corner was placed an armchair with an old man sitting on it. He did look slightly better than others but his skin was also in a light shade of green and his eyes were sunken and lifeless. "So yeah, we are two people from…from far away and we come looking for help." Rick said approaching the old man.

Before he replied Rick's arm was grabbed by double-nose and he was held back. "Bless your holy soul, chief." He said in a servant-like manner ducking his head before the old man. "We have found these two strange creatures on the surface…they seem…different. They weren't protecting themselves with any masks."

The old man nodded his head slowly, watching them closely with his half-closed grey eyes. "What brings you here, travelers?"

Rick rubbed his face tiredly. "Listen to me, you old prick. I don't care how you made this world so fucked up but I just want to leave…just leave this goddamned place…"

Seeing as Rick was struggling with words Morty knew it was his time to step in against his grandpa's instructions. He cleared his throat loudly gaining everyone's attention. "I think what my grandfather is trying to say is that we don't want to cause any trouble." Morty said plastering a fake smile onto his face. The old man seemed untouched by his words so he kept going. "We just want some help from you? Maybe?"

"You weren't wearing masks." The chief said matter-of-factly.

Morty shared a look with Rick. "No, we weren't. But we're fine. See?"

"You may feel well for now." Double-nose said. "But you'll die in a matter of hours."

Morty's eyes went wide. "Ugh, what?"

The old man looked at double-nose for a brief second before looking back at his guests. "What were you thinking just walking through the desserts without masks? What were you expecting to happen?"

"I don't really care about that." Rick said harshly. "What I care about is getting the fuck out of here. With your help or without it."

"I'm afraid there's no point in us helping you and wasting our resources on people that will die soon." The chief said joining his hands together. "I'm sorry but this is how life works."

Once again that day Morty felt like his whole world was falling apart right in front of his eyes. He wanted to cry like a baby and curl on the floor but when he looked into Rick's eyes he noticed some kind of spark that made him believe that his grandpa had a brilliant plan that would save them from dying.

"Morty." Rick said his name calmly. his eyes darting towards Morty's gun. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he held up his shaking hand and aimed the gun at the old man. Under different circumstances he would beg Rick to do something else, to try to convince him but when their lives were on the stake, he couldn't hesitate.

Out of desperation and hope he pulled the trigger and watched as a small hole appeared on the man's forehead. "What the fuck, Morty?" Rick asked turning to his grandson. "Why would you do something so dumb? You just killed someone that could potentially save us!"

Morty looked down at the gun and then back at Rick, feeling anger start buzzing through his body. "You told me to do this, you hypocrite!"

"I didn't tell you to shoot the guy's head off. I thought you were smart enough to understand that I just wanted to threaten him. God, Morty. It's like working with a baby." He walked over to the body of the chief and started going through his pockets.

Morty looked over at double-nose. He stood frozen in place with a mask of fear on his face. "You want to end up like him?" Morty asked doing his best to sound threatening while pointing his small gun at him. The man shook his head quickly. "Good. T-then from now on you d-do as we say, a-alright?."

"There it is!" Rick said pulling a glass bottle from under one of the tables. He opened it and took a long sip scrunching up his face. "It's god-awful. No wonder you all are like a bunch of lifeless turds." He leaned against the table looking relaxed and more at ease. "Now be a good boy and tell us what the hell is going on in this place. Why does the Earth have two suns?"

"The smaller one is not a sun." Double-nose said softly. "It's actually a spacecraft."

"I see you've decided to stop playing dumb for a change. Nice. Real nice." Rick said.

"We've been invaded by aliens?" Morty asked still pointing the gun at him.

Double-nose nodded. "Almost a hundred years ago."

"What about the disease that makes you look like God's biggest mistake?" Rick asked taking another sip.

"The whole world is toxic." He replied looking down at his feet. "We have to live under the surface but it doesn't really change anything. If we breath in the toxic air we die in a matter of hours. Like you will. But what kind of life is this anyway?"

"A pathetic one." Rick said looking around. "Okay. I think I might have the solution for this illness. But I'll need some things first. If you bring them to me I might be able to help you."

"I…" Double-nose trailed off, his eyes darting over to his dead leader.

"Don't think about it. I'm giving you the chance to rebuild your civilization and fight off the aliens. I think the answer's pretty simple." Rick put away the bottle, walked over to Morty and basically pulled off the coat from around his body and put it back on his own. "We need to get to work immediately since apparently we have only a few hours to work out a cure. I will give a list of things I'll need you to bring."

After a few minutes of explaining double-nose was on his way. As soon as he was gone Rick laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be working on finding the cure?"

"Illnesses are not complicated, Morty. I could work out the cure in like…three minutes? So excuse me while I take a nap." Rick said.

"Then why would you send that guy for all those things?" Morty asked folding his arms over his chest.

"Because I still need to build the portal gun, dummy. Do you want to get out of here or not?" He asked.

"Yeah, but…" He trailed off, knowing what was the right thing to do but still having trouble admitting it. "Shouldn't we stay and help them get rid of the aliens?"

"This is not our war, Morty." Rick said calmly. "Right now we need to leave this dimension as soon as possible since we're extremely easily traceable."

"What do I do then?" Morty asked.

"I don't care." Rick replied, clearly wanting to get rid of his grandson as soon as possible. "Go meet people. Bang some chicks. Do whatever you want."

Rick closed his eyes and sighed deeply indicating that the conversation was over. Morty looked around the room, at the dead man still sitting on the armchair and at all other things that reminded him of home but also were the proof that everything he loved could be destroyed in an instant.

He looked towards the big hole through which they had come through. It was time to meet new people.


	4. Chapter 4: Talerica

Morty was a bit afraid of leaving and being face to face with all those disfigured people but he was also curious. Gripping the gun more for reassurance than for anything else he walked out of the chief's part of the cave. Looking at the walls he came to the conclusion that even though he didn't know how it all worked the cave couldn't protect them from the toxins that well.

He saw a small group of people approach him and as soon as they laid their eyes on him, they fell to their knees making Morty feel awkward. "Ugh, you really don't have to do that." He said.

"Of course we have the duty to praise our saviors." One of them, a girl just barely older than Morty said quietly, not even daring to look at the boy.

"Oh, Jeez." Morty muttered to himself realizing what Rick had just done. The whole tribe now thought they were there to make all of their problems disappear. But Morty knew that Rick would just do the bare minimum, wind up and leave.

Morty felt horrible for giving these people false hope even though he knew he shouldn't care about it. He should put all of the sympathy aside and focus on getting home. This was not his dimension after all as Rick had said.

All of sudden the girl grabbed his free hand and started kissing it. Under any other circumstances Morty would consider himself lucky but the girl had three legs, green skin and pitch black eyes with no iris or whites at all. On top of that she was assuming that Morty along with his grandpa were going to restore peace to their world.

Morty tried to take his hand away but her hold was iron as she nudged her face against it like a cat seeking for attention. "Ugh, what's your name?" Morty asked instead watching as other people quietly stood up, still staring at him intensely.

The girl finally lifted up her gaze and looked at him (or at least Morty assumed she was doing so) and hesitantly stood up from the ground. "My name is Talerica." She introduced herself with a careful smile on her lips.

As soon as her grip loosened Morty snatched away his hand and put it on his gun. "Ugh…nice to meet you, Talerica." He said shakily, not used to being in the centre of attention. He was slightly creeped out by how fascinated by him Talerica seemed to be.

"Would you…would you tell me something about you…about where you are from?" The girl asked, so excited that her whole body seemed to be trembling. Morty felt weird, the sudden attention making him uncertain.

"Sure." He replied knowing that he had still some time to spend before they could go home. The girl glared at her disfigured friends and they quickly walked away, some of them looking longingly after Morty.

"What's your name?" Talerica asked taking Morty's hand into both of hers, as if not realizing that her sudden movements could cause him to accidentally use his gun.

"It's M-morty." The boy answered wishing more than anything that he could just escape. "As to where I am from…it's a really long and complicated story. I think you wouldn't really understand. And…and I don't want to confuse you."

Talerica seemed not very interested in what Morty was saying. Instead she was getting closer and closer to him, her fingertips brushing against the skin of Morty's forearm. A cold shiver ran down the boy's spine at the sudden touch and he tried to back away but he quickly came in contact with the wall. "What…what are you doing?"

Instead of answering the girl wrapped her arms around Morty's neck overwhelming him with an unpleasant smell beaming off her skin and coming out of her mouth. Morty gently pushed her away but she immediately clung back to his body. "Morty…" She whispered breathlessly closing her eyes.

"Oh God…" Morty said to himself in horror when Talerica's lips parted and a bright yellow swollen tongue split into three tentacles-looking parts with sharp thorns appeared just a few inches away from Morty's face. He forcefully pushed the girl away and started running away from her as fast as he could, not even looking where he was going.

He wanted to get away. He _needed_ to escape this hellhole. As he ran he passed faces that didn't resemble anything he knew. All the people looked like they were ready to die as they glared at him with their hollow eyes.

"Hey, hey…stop." Morty suddenly felt a pair of arms around his waist and he tried to get away remembering the way Rick's look-alike had tried to trap him in his iron grip.

"Get off me!" Morty screamed feeling himself slip away, his mind finally giving up. His whole body felt weak and heavy as he tripped over his own feet. He stopped fighting the stranger and went limp in his arms letting himself be dragged across the cave. His arms were incredibly pale, in a shade of blue but they also appeared strong and massive.

"The sickness must be kicking in." The stranger said calmly. "The old man better makes the cure soon or you'll be both dead in a matter of two hours tops."

Morty felt a giant gulp create in his throat when he was reminded of the toxins running through his vines and slowly killing him. He looked up at the stranger but quickly looked back down, not having enough strength to look at his disfigured face and pretend that he wasn't seeing what looked like a very private body part placed on his forehead.

The man dragged him back to the furnished part of the cave and left him on the chair. "Oh, Morty…there you a-are, buddy." He heard Rick slur as he swayed his way over to his grandson holding a half-empty bottle in his hand. "D-don't stare at me like that, asshole." He said when the stranger gave him a look. "It's…it's…all part of the plan…don't…don't even worry about it."

Without even saying anything the pale man left them alone and only then Morty finally noticed that the body of their chief was gone. "Rick, why are you drunk? You were supposed to take a nap."

Rick took a sip out of the bottle walking over to the wall where some chemical reactions were already written. "You see this, Morty?" He asked gesturing at the indistinct writing. "Do you…do you know who did this? I did! I did it while drunk, Morty. So…so don't tell me what I'm doing is wrong…because I'm the scientist and you're only...you're only my sidekick."

Morty only sighed knowing that there was no point in trying to talk reasonably to Rick while he was so drunk. "What is that?" He asked looking at the wall.

"The cure, Morty! The fucking cure!" He said sitting down on the ground and downing the rest of the bottle. Then he tossed it away and they both watched as it hit the wall and shattered into tiny pieces. "I should…I should have called that guy a dickface…that was like…the best insult. Why didn't I think of this?"

"Then how about you just cure us?" Morty asked hopefully with the remainders of fear still lurking in the back of his mind.

"First the portal gun." Rick said with his eyes only half open as he looked towards Morty but not really at him. "See…what's the point in curing us if we don't have a way to get out of here yet?"

"Are you kidding me?" Morty exclaimed loudly, feeling himself lose grip on the reality. "I've just been told that I'm starting to get sick! I… _we_ have only two hours so just get your shit together and make the cure!"

"You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, Morty. You know that, right?" Rick said more to himself than to Morty. He turned to the wall, narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. "Ugh, fine. But I'm gonna need a sample of your blood first."

"Why mine? You can just use yours." Morty pointed out, need really excited about having a needle under his skin.

"Quit whining. You know that's not helping me with anything, right?" Rick said walking over to some box and going through it, still swaying. Though Morty's presence seemed to be making him slightly more sober. He lifted up a syringe that surely had seen better days and started approaching Morty.

Seeing the suspicious item Morty started backing away. "Are you insane? Put that thing away."

"Oh, relax, Morty." Rick said calmly while inspecting the needle. "It's just a little pinch. Do it for science."

Morty sighed holding up his arm. He looked away deciding to trust Rick that he knew what he was doing and he wouldn't end up catching another weird disease. He felt a pinch of mild pain and soon it was gone. Morty saw Rick look at the liquid in the syringe, which to his horror wasn't red but rather slightly green.

"Is it bad? It is, isn't it?" Morty asked feeling panic crawl under his skin. What if it was too late for him?

"Shut up, Morty." Rick muttered walking back over to the box. "I'll fix it. Don't worry."

"Well, good." Morty said sitting down on the bed that was surprisingly comfortable and watching as Rick started going through the box again. Seeing Rick supposedly work on the cure calmed him down a bit and he was able to relax for once.


	5. Chapter 5: Heavy Eyelids

Morty soon realized how sleepy he was. His eyelids became heavy and he had trouble keeping his eyes open. "You know, maybe it's not so bad that we're here after all. Because of us these people might get to live longer. It's pretty cool, you know?" Morty said, partly just to keep himself from falling asleep. But he also felt good about saving some lives.

"What are you talking about?" Rick questioned glancing at him. He was pouring Morty's blood into another container with boredom written all over his face. "Do you seriously think I would bother to make a shit load of this? It's just for us."

"What?" Morty questioned, suddenly feeling much more awake.

"These people must have brought their misery upon themselves…don't feel bad about them. It's not worth it." Rick said adding another liquid into his mixture.

Morty blinked his eyes a few times, mad at himself for assuming even for a moment that Rick was selfless enough to care about others for a change. "You know what? Screw your selfishness. I won't agree to leaving these poor people to fend for themselves!" Morty said folding his arms against his chest and waiting for Rick's reaction.

The older man put away the container sighing loudly. "Morty, you really don't understand, do you? You don't mess with the universe."

"Says who?" Morty exclaimed angrily, sick and tired of his grandpa's behavior. "It's _you_ that keeps changing every-"

"Why…why do you even care?" Rick asked him. "They will rot in this shit hole one way or another. You can't change it."

"But we can do something to make them at least slightly less miserable…if this is all we can do then fine." Morty said feeling like Rick was slowly giving in even if he didn't want to admit it yet. "There was a girl and she was so desperate that she just threw herself at me. This…this is saying something about them."

"I can't believe you, Morty." Rick said turning to him and looking at him with bloodshot eyes. His hands reached for another bottle of alcohol and he took a long sip. "You complain when girls laugh their asses at your poor _attempts_ to ask them out. And then you complain when one finally can look past your weirdness and awkwardness. What…what do you even want?"

"I want to help them. That's all that I want for them." Morty stood his ground wanting for once to force Rick to do something nice for others.

Rick didn't say anything and instead continued to work on the cure. Morty fought off sleep once again and just watched him hoping that his grandpa wouldn't be selfish again. A few minutes later double-nose returned carrying a massive bag.

"I have everything." The man said throwing everything out onto the ground.

"Jesus, are you fucking crazy?" Rick exclaimed loudly walking over to what looked like just a pile of useless junk. "You've got to…you've got to be careful with these things…you know?" He was once again swaying and his words were slurred indicating that the alcohol was once again getting into his head. "Listen to me, man." He said wrapping his arm around the man's massive shoulders. He was so huge that Rick was barely able to do that.

"Yeah?" Double-nose asked looking slightly scared of Rick.

"Listen…I don't give a shit about you or the rest of these stupid cavemen…but this loser right there…" He pointed his finger at Morty. "…he wants to feel like a fucking superhero for a change, so this is what I'm gonna do." He leaned in as if he wanted to whispers but all of Rick's words still ended up loud and clear. "…I'm gonna show you how to…how to make this shit…and if you won't understand…then fuck it. I won't bother anymore."

Morty couldn't help but smile at that. Maybe Rick was doing it against his will but it was still something a whole group of people could benefit from. He felt warm thinking about all the lives they were going to save with the cure. "Oh, okay. Can't you just keep making it for us though?" The man asked looking a bit confused.

Rick moved away from him and looked down at the pile. "Oh, yeah. We're leaving this shitty dimension." He burped loudly, more obnoxiously than usual and bent over picking up some of the metal pieces.

Double-nose blinked a few times, his face becoming stern. "No." He said simply.

"Yeah, yeah." Rick muttered walking to the table and laying out all the things there.

"You're not leaving us." Double-nose said firmly looking both angry and determined.

"Well, we are, but you keep thinking whatever you want. I don't particularly care." Rick started doing something with some of the things that Morty didn't even have any clue how to name or describe.

"You kill our chief so now you are one. You can't leave us."

"This is not my fucking fault, is it? I didn't come here to deal with your mess." Rick spat out while working on what Morty assumed was his new portal gun.

"We could have left you for death." Double-nose said angrily clenching his palms into fists.

"Hey, easy there." Morty said calmly not wanting to accidentally make the whole tribe want to kill them. He stood up quickly and stepped between his grandpa and the other man. "Let's just all be calm about this, alright? Rick will make the cure and we can just go from there."

Double-nose looked as if he wanted to argue further but in the end he just sighed looking down at his feet. The truth was that his life as well as all the other lives were in the hands of Rick and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't just kill them…that would lead him nowhere.

Despite thinking that, Morty was still slightly scared that his desperate need to have a better chance of survival would get the better of him and his actions could become unpredictable. Luckily he just nodded his head and locked his hollow eyes with Morty's.

"Just don't try anything stupid." And with that he left the two of them alone.

"Real smooth, Rick. Real smooth." Morty said leaning against the wall and folding his arms over his chest. "You could have just lied, you know? I can't believe that _you_ of all people, the master of fooling people couldn't come up with something so simple. "

"Y-You know…sometimes….you just realize that you don't have any fucks left to give, Morty. And that day…you know you're messed up enough to call yourself an adult."

"Well, then let's just let them hoard on us and kill us. Real smart." Morty looked away from his grandpa and focused on not falling asleep. His eyelids were suddenly incredibly heavy for some reason. He also realized that his throat was sore and he really needed some water. But the thought of drinking anything at this place was making him want to gag so he stayed quiet.

Rick only shook his head at him and went back to working on the cure. Only then Morty noticed that his grandpa didn't look that great. His skin was even more grey than usual and the way his fingers moved from one metal part to another seemed off. The boy had been watching him work for years and he knew how carelessly pedantic he was. Even though he appeared like he didn't really care his movements were always incredibly precise somehow. Maybe it was because his mind was far beyond thinking about things like that and he was doing it automatically.

But now Morty could see that he really just wasn't able to focus and pull himself together. "Oh, shit." Rick mumbled when some small container fell over and a green substance, probably Morty's blood mixed with whatever it was that was needed to make the cure, spilled over the table.

"You need a hand with this?" Morty asked pushing himself away from the wall. He felt slightly dizzy but it wasn't that bad yet so he made his way over to Rick and looked at all the weird things that at the first glace didn't seem connected to one another in any way.

"I-I'm fine…I don't need you to screw this up for us." He said harshly putting the container back in its place. However he had to hold himself up and lean against the table as he closed his eyes and breathed heavily.

Morty suddenly found himself unable to think straight. Rick couldn't be so sick already while Morty still felt mostly fine. "You can't be sick." He said out loud, not able to control himself as well as he'd like. "Do you hear me? You can't!" He almost screamed letting fear take over his body.

"Relax, Morty. It's all fine." He was still slurring, the alcohol probably speeding up the progression of his illness. "See? I'm fine." He said as he tried to pour some of the liquid into a metal mug. His hands were shaking and once again the substance that could potentially save their lives spilled off the table. "Oh, fuck, Morty."

"Oh, Jeez. Oh, God. N-no." Morty started saying with wide open eyes. He didn't feel so sleepy anymore. He felt more alive than ever and the thought of him slowly spiraling out of his consciousness into blackness and never seeing anything ever again was making his knees weak. He quickly looked down at his hands and realized that somehow they weren't shaking yet. "Hey!" He screamed at Rick who looked slightly confused as to where he was. "Are you still there?"

"Ugh, what?" Rick asked looking at him blankly.

Against his better judgement Morty slapped Rick against his cheek as hard as he could, which in reality couldn't really be that hard. "I am not letting us die here!" Morty said firmly. _I am not letting you down again_ , his mind screamed at him but he ignored it. "Focus, Rick. You were making the cure."

Rick looked at the table and all the mess, seemingly unaffected by Morty's slap. "O-oh, yeah…must have been…I…I'll get b-back to that."

"No." Morty said looking at all the metal parts and some organic stuff together with the liquid made of his blood. "Just instruct me. Tell me what to do. Illnesses are easy after all, right?"

"Right." Rick said but he didn't sound all that convinced. Morty could sense that it wasn't his Rick anymore, he could only see shreds of his personality trapped in a body that couldn't function properly any longer.

"O-okay." Morty stuttered nervously. He grabbed the container with his blood in it and basically shoved it into Rick's face. "This is my infected blood mixed with some…some stuff...what do I do with it?"

Rick blinked his eyes a few times focusing them on the green liquid. "Ugh…mix it with…with this." He said pointing his finger at another liquid in a much smaller container.

"Okay." Morty said proceeding to blend together the two substances and hoping that Rick was still conscious enough to think clearly and he wasn't making some kind of bomb instead of the cure.

It was hard and frustrating but using probably all his efforts and the remaining bits of his fleeting genius Rick instructed his grandson on how to make the remedy. When the mixture was ready Morty held the tube carefully in both of his hands debating with himself whether or not this would save them.

He looked over at Rick noticing that his eyes were now completely unfocused as he just barely held himself up against the wall. Morty knew that one of them should try it first and at least give the other a chance to survive in case it wouldn't work. He focused his eyes on the bright green liquid knowing that all their hope was trapped inside of that small tube and took a shaky breath feeling his whole body shiver.

"Oh, Jeez. What now?" Morty asked himself knowing that Rick wouldn't help him. He wasn't ready to make such a big decision on his own. It was always Rick thinking for both of them and now it was just Morty. Alone.

He could try it himself and if it wasn't working maybe he could try to do it again. But looking at Rick sinking down to the floor lifelessly made him realize that this time Rick would not help him at all. And the likelihood of Morty being able to make the cure on his own while taking into account Rick's possible mistakes was ridiculously small.

So he should give it to Rick and hope that it works. Morty slowly walked over to his grandpa who was now completely unconscious. He knew that Rick couldn't possibly have much time left which meant that he didn't have much of it either, so the decision to give the cure to him could very possibly mean that Morty would end up dead.

Morty felt tears start rolling down his cheeks so he looked away biting hard on his bottom lip. He could be selfish this time. He could cure himself and keep living. But that would mean never seeing his family again. And the world without them wasn't worth living in it.

Sobbing loudly Morty kneeled down in front of Rick and opened his grandpa's mouth titling his head back.

Just as he did so he heard a familiar voice behind him. "I wouldn't do that." Morty turned around with tears still streaming down his cheeks. Double-nose and the other guy with a dick on his face were standing side by side with serious faces.

"He's…h-he's dying." Morty whispered clenching the tube tightly in his hands and chocking on his tears.

"We know." Double-nose said slowly approaching Morty and his grandpa while his friend stood next to the exit. "That's why you can't give him the cure. I want to try it first."

"Why would you do something so…so stupid?" Morty asked standing between his grandfather and the attacker. "If it works and he dies who will make you more of it?"

"You will." Double-nose said with a smirk. "We've seen you make it. I'm sure you remember how to do it. He wanted to leave by making some weird device." He said nodding at Rick's unconscious body. "As far as I'm concerned you _can't_ make it."

A cold shiver ran down Morty's spine as he watched in horror Double-nose's mocking smirk. They weren't joking and Morty couldn't let Rick die. Still clenching the tube he looked around the cave in search of his gun but he didn't find it. They must have taken it from him at some point when he hadn't been paying attention.

Panic started raising as Morty had no idea what to do. He looked at the exit, then at Rick as if silently asking him to tell him what to do. All he knew was that he couldn't let him die. No matter what he needed to save Rick. So without thinking too much he turned back to him and poured the supposed cure into his mouth hoping against hope that it would work and that it would work fast.

But of course nothing ever happens instantly so Rick remained unconscious and barely alive leaving Morty unable to determine if it was working or not. "Well, now you will just have to make it again." Double-nose said calmly clearly not caring that Morty was in the middle of a meltdown. "While we take care of the old man."

Just as Morty was about to give up and let himself fall apart completely he noticed something shiny hidden behind Rick's belt. He quickly calmed himself down as much as he could and grabbed the device in one swift move. He examined the item carefully and sighed noting that it was definitely not a gun. It was round and made of something that Morty wasn't even able to describe. It was cool and soft in touch.

"Move." Double-nose said hovering above the boy. Morty looked down at the item wondering if maybe this was some kind of bomb or a grenade. Knowing that he didn't have anything better to do he threw the ball towards the centre of the cave.

"What the hell?" The other guy asked just as green gas started leaking from the ball. Seeing as both of the attackers were focused on the bomb Morty didn't waste any time and pulled Rick's coat off of him. Just as he did so the gas reached Dick face and the man immediately passed out.

Morty used all of his strength to rip off both of the sleeves of the coat and wrapped them around both his and Rick's faces. Right then Double-nose fell onto the ground as well. The gas also reached Morty but luckily the fabric of the coat managed to keep him from fainting.

The boy knew that everything was now in his hands. If he wanted at least one of them to have a chance to survive he needed to get them out of there before anyone else could take advantage of Rick not being able to protect himself. And if he understood everything correctly the cure should also prevent Rick from getting sick again so being on the surface shouldn't hurt him.

Knowing that now the hardest part was ahead of him Morty slid his arms under Rick's armpits and wrapped them around his chest. Rick was incredibly skinny and light but it didn't mean that dragging him across the cave wasn't a challenge for Morty. He was sweaty and it was hard to breathe through his handmade mask but the gas was still leaking and spreading so he had to keep it on.

He could also feel the illness finally kicking in. His legs had become wobbly and each step was ten times harder than the last one. It seemed like Rick's motionless body was getting heavier and heavier with each passing second.

But he couldn't give up. He just couldn't. Rick was far from perfect but he deserved to live. And he was Morty's only hope to get out this live. Even if that chance was minimal.

Some people saw them, some of them quickly passed out but the rest just stared at them with what looked like confusion mixed with fear. Morty didn't care about them though. In that moment they could just rot in hell for all he cared.

He was barely able to drag Rick, he felt dizzy and his whole body was hurting. One minute he felt hot and the next he felt freezing cold. But he could see the exit. He could make it.

Morty gathered all his will-power, all his anger at himself for sending them there, all his anger at Rick for making his life miserable and all that combined somehow pushed him towards the door. Once he saw the spaceship against the starry sky he couldn't help but laugh.

But he knew he was still far from done. He needed to get them at least a little further so that they wouldn't be able to find them so easily. Morty dragged Rick against the green sand for five minutes before the darkness started overwhelming him and he just couldn't go on for any longer.

Morty regretfully let go of Rick watching his head hit the sand. The lack of his grandpa's weight in his arms made him feel lightheaded so he immediately fell down with his cheek against the cold sand. Just as his eyelids began to drop he was able to see the real sun lazily start raising from behind the horizon illuminating the foreign world around him.


	6. Chapter 6: Fleeting Joy

**A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far, so I hope you'll like it as much as I do!**

* * *

"…no...I'm…I'm _not_ drunk! You're fucking drunk." Morty barely opened his eyes but before he could see anything he closed them again not wanting to deal with the world just yet.

"Sir, you know it is against the law to fly a vehicle while under influence."

"The o-only influence I'm under is your stupidity. I c-can drive better drunk than y-you sober."

"Alright. You're forcing me to do this the hard way. Please, show me your license and the boy's id or whatever it is that your planet uses to identify people."

As soon as Morty realized that they were talking about him he opened his eyes again and blinked a few times. When he adjusted to the sudden appearance of the light he made a shocking discovery that he was sitting in the passenger seat of Rick's flying car.

But the driver's seat was empty. Rick was leaning against the car and talking to a an alien who slightly resembled a frog. While the alien looked frustrated Rick appeared cool and smug as per usual. His arms were folded over his chest and his eyes half-closed as he obviously wasn't paying attention to anything the alien was saying.

It took Morty about ten more seconds to remember everything. His eyes widened out and his mind blocked out the conversation between Rick and the alien as he just sat in the car and looked straight ahead.

He had saved them.

He did it.

For once in his life he hadn't screwed up.

Morty couldn't help but smile. He didn't know how but somehow Rick had been able to get them out of that dimension and cure him.

Morty had a huge smile on his face as he watched Rick fight with who he assumed was some kind of police officer. He couldn't stop admiring the world around him. It wasn't much though. The car was on a small rock drifting through space but even that small fragment of reality seemed beautiful in that moment.

They were safe. They were _alive_.

"Fucking bureaucrat." Rick said loudly (loud enough for the officer to hear him) getting into the car. "Oh, you're awake." He said looking at Morty. For some reason there was no sign of enthusiasm on his face.

"God, Rick! We're alive. I _did_ it. _We_ made it!" Morty said ignoring Rick's bad mood.

"Yeah, well. They don't call me the smartest man in the universe for no reason." He said taking out his flask and pouring at least half of it into his mouth.

"People actually rarely call you that." Morty pointed out although there was still a huge grin on his face. "Rick, we're alive!" He said again grabbing the man's arm and shaking it.

"Jesus, calm down, Morty." Rick said shaking off Morty's hand and starting the engine. "Yes, I know we're alive."

"Isn't that…I don't know…absolutely unbelievable?" Morty exclaimed as they took off and started travelling through space. "But how did you do it? The cure worked?"

"Obviously." Rick said while simultaneously burping. "I…I must have called someone…they got us out of there."

Morty's smile quickly disappeared. "Wait, why hadn't you done that before they captured us? When I thought…when I thought that we were going to die?"

Rick was silent for a few painfully long seconds, his eyes not even darting once towards his grandson. "Let's just say that we…we're not on good terms. I thought…I thought that I'd get out of there in time but apparently I was already sick enough to miscalculate it." He took another sip from his flask. "But then you just fucking had to feel like a hero for once, so if I wanted to save your ass I had to make the call." He finally looked at Morty with his sunken bloodshot eyes. "Trust me, Morty. It was not pleasant at all."

For a short moment Morty felt nothing at all. But then all the anger and frustration hit him like a wave. "I could have died! _You_ could have died!"

"Calm the fuck down and just think for a second, Morty." Rick said harshly. "We wouldn't have known about the illness if they hadn't taken us. You should be grateful."

"I'm sure the smartest man in the universe would have figured it out." Morty pointed out. "Do you have any idea what I had to go through? _God_ , I thought we were both going to die. I thought…I-I thought I would never get to talk to you again." Morty couldn't control his emotions. Angry tears started welling up in his eyes as he used all of his strength and shoved Rick's shoulder.

The man was clearly taken by surprise as the car shook. "What the fuck, Morty?"

"You're the worst thing that ever happened to me! Do you hear me?" Morty screamed wanting to throw himself at Rick but the seat belt held him firmly in place. "Y-you're going to pay for making me do all those things…for making me think that we were going to die!"

"Oh, whatever." Rick said, seemingly untouched by Morty's emotional outburst.

Morty turned his body away from Rick as much as he could wrapping his arms around his body and looking through the window. "Fuck you, Rick. Just fuck you. Just get us home already."

"Yeah…about that." Rick said, his voice suddenly slightly softer.

"What now?" Morty asked sharply, already knowing that whatever it was that Rick was about to say couldn't possibly mean anything good. "Have you already blown up our entire universe or what?"

Rick was looking straight ahead in complete silence until his tired eyes drifted to Morty for a second. "Ugh…remember other Ricks? They are still out for me, so going back would be the dumbest thing to do."

Morty felt his whole body shake from various emotions. He was both angry and heartbroken as he couldn't believe that it all wasn't over yet. He once again felt the urge to punch Rick with all he had but he managed to stop himself. "I can't believe you're selfish enough to drag me into this…or you know what? I should have known. I should have known all along that there was no going home!"

Rick sighed loudly as he turned on the radio and some random music started playing. "I…I'll make it up to you, okay? Just…just work with me here and it will be all over soon."

Morty watched as they passed small asteroids while trying not to let himself cry and show Rick his vulnerability. He didn't want to admit to neither Rick nor himself just how hurt he felt for being used and lied to. So he just sat there letting Rick take him wherever he wanted.

They didn't exchange any words for about two hours. The only sound present in the car was the annoying pop music yelling through the speakers. Morty could see Rick slowly slipping into an alcoholic daze as he kept refilling his flask and downing all the liquid in one sip or two.

Morty didn't care much about it though knowing that Rick's level of humanity was equally low whether or not he was drunk. The car eventually started slowing down and Morty noticed that they were approaching a planet, slightly similar to Earth at first glance.

After a few minutes Rick landed the vehicle and only then Morty noticed how weirdly familiar the place was. It looked like Earth but everything was somehow brighter and more colorful. "Ugh, I hate this place." Rick muttered as he opened the door and left the car.

With nothing better to do Morty followed his grandpa and took a better look around. They were at the edge of some kind of forest. All trees had either light blue leaves or bright pink. Morty just stood there and stared at all the fluff wondering why Rick had chosen to come to a place like this.

"So are you just going to not talk to me like a little bitch?" Rick asked pushing the flying car a bit further into the forest, probably so that it wouldn't be seen from above.

"Maybe." Morty said even though his anger was slowly melting away. Now it felt more like a constant mild pain, just annoying for the most part. "What is all this?"

"A planet no Rick would ever visit." The older man said wiping away some sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his coat.

"How long is this for?" Morty asked as he followed Rick into the forest. The weather was nice, birds were chirping but the boy couldn't enjoy it. All he could think about was how he was not going to see his family for God knows how long.

Rick scratched his head taking another sip out of his flask. "I…I'm not sure, Morty. But it's not a big fucking deal, you know? It's like vacation. We'll just do nothing all day. We can…we can even watch interdimensional cable if you want."

Morty looked down at his feet knowing that as much as he wanted to relax he wouldn't be able to get any proper rest under such bizarre circumstances. After a few minutes of walking Morty noticed a small house appear in the distance that looked nothing like a hiding spot he imagined Rick would take them to.

"You've built it yourself?" Morty asked looking up at Rick and doubting that the old man would put effort into building a house that looked like the perfect summer destination. The shack was small and made of dark wood with adorable small windows.

Rick looked at the house with judgment written all over his tired face. "Ugh…in a way." He admitted shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "I'll explain it to you later. Now let's just…ugh…I'll just show you the house so you can mop, cry or whatever it is that you losers do."

Morty didn't even say anything to that insult knowing that it wouldn't help in any way. He just followed Rick mindlessly inside and only when he noticed mushy carpets on the floor, comfortable-looking sofa and a fireplace his eyes widened out and he stopped dead in his tracks.

Rick didn't seem to care as he just lied down on the sofa, took out a mini fridge from underneath it and opened a can of beer. Morty just stood there looking at all the things that didn't resemble Rick's usual environment at all. It looked more like a perfect place to spend Christmas with your family, not a hiding spot.

"H-how?" Morty stuttered out. "Why?"

Rick sighed loudly taking a sip of his beer. "Do I look like fucking Google to you? I…I'm too tired from all this shit to answer your questions right now."

Morty sighed allowing himself not to think about anything for the time being. He would do that the next day. But right then he realized that he didn't have any concept of time at all. "Wait…for how long have I been out?"

"Ugh, about…three days or something." Rick answered closing his eyes.

Morty nodded his head numbly. "Wow…that's a long time." He pointed out but Rick didn't answer in any way. "Ugh, I guess I'll take a shower then." He said, only then noticing how worn out and dirty his clothes and skin looked.

"Your first good idea today." Rick commented while burping. "Fucking brilliant."

Morty rolled his eyes, deciding not to waste any time on asking Rick where the bathroom was. He would figure it out himself.

After wandering through the house for a few minutes and discovering two bedrooms, a surprisingly well-equipped kitchen and the bathroom he proceeded to find some clothes for himself. Much to his confusion and mild amusement he soon managed to find clothes identical to his own in one of the closets.

Once the hot water was flowing down his back Morty allowed himself to take in everything that had happened in the course of the last few days. He had doomed them, then he had saved them. Even though it had been all just a game to Rick and he didn't even seem all that thankful.

When Morty put on fresh clothes he did feel slightly better but the hole created in his heart was still big and aching. He hoped Rick had informed their family that they were fine but the chances of that were quite slim meaning that Morty had to now live with the knowledge that his family was probably worried sick about him.

Despite almost dying recently Morty discovered that he wasn't all that tired so instead of calling it a night he went back downstairs to find Rick setting up the interdimensional cable. The prospect of watching mindless TV with his grandpa managed to bring back some good memories even though all the emotions were still making him feel uneasy and slightly angry. But he decided to put them aside and at least try to relax for the time being.

"I see someone finally pulled the stick out of his ass." Rick said, sounding a bit less bitter than before. "G-good." He stuttered making Morty realize that he was already drunk. "I…I actually wanted to give you something."

"Oh, okay." Morty said watching as Rick walked over to the cabinets next to the TV and opened them up. He went through all the stuff mingled up inside and took out a gun that surprisingly did look like one this time.

"You've e-earned it." Rick said tossing the gun at Morty.

It was so heavy that the boy barely managed to catch it. He examined the weapon feeling conflicted about holding in his hands something that actually looked like it could kill someone. "Ugh, thanks, I guess." He said holding it awkwardly in his hands and not knowing what to do with it.

"And hey," Rick said in a softer voice gaining Morty's attention. The older man for once in his life didn't look like he didn't care about anything. "Thanks for s-saving me back there." He said sitting down on the sofa and turning on the TV.

Morty had no idea if it was only alcohol speaking through Rick or not but somehow these words opened a wound that Morty had no idea existed. He felt his shoulders start shaking before the hot tears ran down his cheeks. He let the gun fall to the ground as all the fear, all the anger hit him like an avalanche of rocks. His whole body felt weak and worn out so he sat down beside Rick and just sobbed.

He could see Rick's lifeless body laying at his feet. He could _feel_ all the effort he had put into saving him. It was all too much.

And just as he thought it couldn't get worse Morty remembered that he had also killed a man. That memory knocked the wind out of him and he started hyperventilating and whining like a wounded animal.

"Shh, it's fine. It's all fine." He heard Rick's voice and felt a shy touch of his hand on his back. Without any hesitation Morty fell into Rick's arms and finally let himself fall apart as he clung with his fingers to his grandpa's smelly coat.

"B-but it's _not_." Morty managed to let out as he closed his eyes shut blocking the rest of the world.

Rick wrapped his slim arms around Morty's body and just held him allowing the boy to stain his clothes with tears. "But it's going to be. Grandpa will make it all better."

As much as Morty wanted to believe that Rick was telling the truth he knew that some part of him would never be the same again. Something had been broken and Morty knew it couldn't be fixed with any of Rick's inventions.


	7. Chapter 7: Lifeless Dots

**A/N: Well, I don't really have a good explanation as to why I missed an update. But I can promise to _try_ to be better?**

* * *

Morty's eyes went wide as he sat up straight looking around suspiciously. He sighed in relief noticing that no one was hiding in the shadows in hopes of causing yet another catastrophe. After a few seconds of mild confusion all the emotions and events from previous day came flooding back into his mind. His head was hurting slightly, but that was probably due to all the crying he had done before falling asleep right there, in his grandpa's arms.

He wasn't in the living room though. He was in one of the bedrooms upstairs that he had seen during his search for the bathroom. Rick must have carried him there.

Just as Morty was about to get back to sleep he heard a loud thud coming from downstairs and Rick's voice. " _Get your fucking ass in here and help me,_ _would_ _you?!_ " This must have woken him up.

Morty quickly jumped out of bed not feeling sleepy at all anymore.

"N-no. This can't be happening again." Morty whispered to himself feeling a cold shiver run down his spine. He wanted to hide under the bed and ignore all the dangers for as long as he could hoping against all odds that it was not yet another life-threatening situation.

But Morty knew that he wasn't all that weak after all. He had strength and he could use it for good. Even though he was scared and he felt weak Morty understood now that these feelings were nothing more than a wall made of delusions meant to stop him from achieving what he truly was capable of.

Morty looked under his bed and surely the gun was hidden there. He grabbed it and held firmly in his hands even though he was barely able to carry it. Putting a mental wall around all the weaknesses he had buried deep inside his mind, Morty stormed out of the bedroom and quickly ran down the stairs searching for the enemy.

What he found though was not something he was ready for. Morty stopped at the kitchen's entrance and stared open-mouthed at the scene playing out in front of his eyes.

Rick was once again fighting his clones but this time he was also surrounded by bright blue, supposedly blood-hungry creatures, probably the native habitants of the planet. They all looked angry as they circled all the Ricks with desperation in their eyes.

Morty quickly pulled himself together and aimed the gun at one of the Ricks, not really sure which one of them was his grandpa. This time they were all wearing the same clothes, most likely to make Morty confused. The boy's hands started shaking again as he didn't know what to do and he needed guidance.

"What do I do?" Morty asked shakily cursing himself for letting his recently gained courage and confidence flee so easily. "Help me here, Rick."

One of the Ricks pushed another one off his body and looked at Morty with eyes wide open, full of fear. This couldn't be the real him. "You need to take them all out!"

"Shut the fuck up." Another one said with a look of indifference on his face as he aimed two guns held in both of his hands at two of his opponents who didn't really seem to care that they were held at gunpoint. "Morty…you…you need to help me out here, buddy. Come over here."

"How do I know which one of you is the real Rick?" Morty said pointing his gun at each of them for a few seconds. There was a total five of them and about nine blue aliens that his mind was too overwhelmed to deal with right then.

"We're all fucking real…ugh…but it doesn't really matter right now." The one with the guns said observing carefully the rest of his selves. "I've tricked them and now they don't know which one is me."

Morty didn't know how exactly saying this out loud was helpful in any way, but he was positive that Rick had some kind of plan. But Morty still wasn't sure if this was really his grandpa or if it was some kind of trick, so he kept aiming at each one of them and wondering how the hell he was going to figure it out.

"Oh…let's see if all this fucking time spent on doing shit together has been in any way teaching you anything about me." Another one said as he sat on the floor with two Ricks aiming their guns at him and another one holding back his arms.

"Oh, man. Oh, jeez." Morty murmured to himself knowing that if they wanted they could just disarm him and kill. He needed to figure something out quickly if he didn't want to end up dead or even worse. But his mind was completely blank and his hands were shaking.

"Oh, please." The Rick on the floor said rolling his eyes. "He's going to shit himself."

Morty was panicking so without thinking he fired two warning shots making a hole in the ceiling. All the Ricks started cursing as some rubble fell through the hole onto their heads. "Jesus, kid. Calm the fuck down." One of them said but Morty didn't know which one since another weird thing happened.

The blue aliens threw themselves at all the Ricks, leaving out just one of them. "Run, Morty!" He screamed at him maneuvering between the chaotic battles. The aliens didn't seem to be all that smart since their fighting tactics were limited to pulling at their hair or kicking them as hard as they could but it was clearly working as neither Rick could escape them.

Dumbfounded, Morty just stood motionlessly until Rick grabbed him and he was forced to run after him. "Why d-don't you just use the portal gun? And…and who are those blue aliens?"

"I've left it in the car." Rick admitted running through the forest with Morty following closely behind. The boy had trouble keeping up since the gun was weighing down on him. "There's no time for explaining. We…we've got to get there."

Morty wanted to comment on how reckless Rick had been by leaving his portal gun in the car but he was panting so his personal opinions had to be left for later. Instead he ran through the colorful forest tripping over fallen branches every once in a while.

It turned out that Rick's running skills weren't that great either as he himself ended up falling face flat onto the ground. He quickly pushed himself up though so that Morty didn't even manage to catch up with him while he was on the ground.

Just as Rick's car appeared in the distance Morty noticed something green flickering in the grass. He abruptly came to a halt realizing that this in fact was Rick's portal gun. He was about to call him and tell him that it must have fallen out of his pocket or something instead of being left in the car, but just then he heard weird noises coming from the car. Without thinking much he grabbed the device and put it any his pants pocket.

And surely when he approached the car he could see two Ricks, instead of one. And before Morty had a chance to react to anything in any way he heard a gunshot and the one he had been following fell onto the ground with a hole in the centre of his forehead.

Morty's blood turned into ice as he stared at his grandpa laying on the ground dead. "I-I…" He started stuttering not even knowing what words were supposed to come out.

He slowly lifted up his gaze at the other Rick aiming his gun at him with tears in his eyes. "Chill, Morty." Rick said holding up his hands in surrender and smiling slightly. "We're getting out this fucking place…it's…it's clearly not a good place to hide."

Morty had no idea what was going on. His hands were shaking as he kept aiming at Rick with tears rolling down his cheeks. "You…y-you killed him." He pointed out shakily.

"What a big fucking deal." Rick rolled his eyes opening the car door and getting inside. "Listen, Morty. It wasn't your grandpa…he just wanted you to believe that."

"W-why would he do that?" Morty stuttered out, feeling fear and anger tear at his insides. "Why didn't he just kill me? What was this whole…this whole masquerade for?"

"This was…he just wanted to have you as a backup plan." Rick explained starting the engine. "C'mon. Get in."

Morty shook his head gripping the gun in his hands as hard as he could. "N-no…you…you might be tricking me again…you might not be Rick either. How am I s-supposed to know that for sure?"

Rick sighed loudly letting himself lazily lean against the seat. "There's…there's no time for shit like that, Morty. You…You've gotta trust me."

Just as Morty was about to open his mouth the car door on Rick's right opened and another Rick got inside. Before either of them could do anything Rick was handcuffed with his face splashed against the front window. "And who's laughing now, you fucking idiot?" The attacker said holding back Rick's arms. "That's what you get for fucking with the Citadel."

Morty's reality collapsed once more and his mind couldn't determine anymore what was true and what was not. Rick managed to turn his head a little so that he could look straight into his grandson's eyes. "Listen…listen to me, Morty."

"Shut the fuck up." The other Rick said gripping his opponent's arms even tighter so that he yelped in pain.

"You have to…you have to shoot him." Rick said, his voice sounding almost desperate. "That's our only chance."

The other Rick snorted shaking his head. "Oh, please. Like this little dipshit would ever do that."

Morty watched the two of them still aiming his gun at them through the open door. He was aware of the fact that he needed to do something but even the mere thought of killing someone that even remotely resembled Rick, or any member of his family for that matter, was an abstraction. "I-I can't." He stuttered out feeling like he was disappointing Rick once again.

"See?" The other Rick said lowering himself so that he was talking directly into Morty's grandpa's ear. "He doesn't have the balls to do it. You're too fucking soft on him."

"Morty! Pull your shit together!" Rick ordered but Morty only shook his head closing his eyes. "Look behind you! The others are coming! If they catch us…they will kill me…they will kill both of us!" Rick said not sounding like himself at all. It was a bit scary.

Morty reluctantly looked around and surely he could see a few silhouettes in the distance coming at them. Morty kept looking at them for a few seconds, feeling himself slip into a state in which everything seemed unreal and almost silly.

But the danger was painfully real as he turned back around and saw the clone Rick push some buttons in the vehicle while still having the real Rick shoved against the front window. "H-how…how am I supposed to kill him?" Morty whispered to himself but apparently it was loud enough for the two Ricks to hear.

"Just fucking do it! It's not that hard! Are you a baby, Morty? Hell, you're worse than that." Rick said harshly looking at Morty with eyes wide open, full of desperation mixed with anger. "Do you need a reminder that we're in this fucking mess because of you?"

"I-I…"

"You're a fucking disappointment, Morty. No grandchild of mine would just sit around and watch me die." Rick's voice was loud and clear and for once he wasn't stuttering or tripping over his words. "All you do is mop and complain about how miserable your life is but at the end of the day you do nothing to change anything."

Morty could feel the breath of death on the back of his neck but his limbs seemed to be paralyzed. His mind kept processing Rick's words over and over. The harsh words were hitting him like rocks and leaving bruises all over his body.

He locked his eyes with Rick's unforgiving and cold ones, channeling all his anger at him. Rick didn't say anything and remained completely silent as his gaze seemed to be piercing into Morty's soul and mocking him, making fun of him.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion when it happened. Morty wasn't exactly sure if it was his conscious decision or if his finger only slipped without his permission, but suddenly he pulled the trigger. As soon as he did so, Morty heard a deafening sound but it seemed like his ears were already useless as he didn't even flinch.

His gaze was still locked with Rick's when his eyes turned from two merciless bullets into lifeless dots lost in the oceans of his yellowish whites. For a second everything was frozen in place and Morty knew that if he focused hard enough he could make this moment last forever.

But he didn't want it to last forever so the world around him came back to life and before he could adapt to the new reality Morty was pulled inside the vehicle and buckled up in his seat. He heard a couple of gunshots but his mind wasn't affected by it at all.

"Good job, Morty. Good job." Rick's breathless voice crawled inside Morty's mind as they took off and left the planet.

Morty snapped back into reality only after some time. "Pull over." He said firmly.

"It's not…it's not a fucking road, Morty. I can't just…I can't just stop wherever I want." Rick said with only one hand on the steering wheel.

" _Please_." Morty whimpered helplessly knowing that he wouldn't be able to go on for much longer. He closed his eyes shut and only focused on breathing in and out.

In and out.

It apparently was enough to convince Rick to stop the car as Morty felt the vehicle quickly start lowering and when Morty opened back his eyes he realized that they were quickly approaching a bright blue planet.

As soon as the car landed Morty unfastened his seat belt and shoved the door open. He quickly left the vehicle and feeling fresh air hit his face, he bent over to throw up, but since he hadn't eaten anything in a long time nothing but bile came out. His whole body shivered with convulsions as he fell onto the ground, supporting himself only with one arm so that he wouldn't end up smashing his face into the mess he had made.

After a few moments he stopped feeling sick but the physical pain changed into a psychological one as he started sobbing. He felt Rick's hand on his back but he immediately moved away from the touch. It was burning his skin even through the fabric of his shirt. "D-don't." He managed to let out.

"Morty, listen-"

"DON'T!" Morty screamed with all he had lifting himself a little more so that he could look directly at his grandpa. "I just killed someone that…that looked _exactly_ like you. God, I've seen you die today twice! And…and I-I'm not even sure…if…if…" He couldn't finish. He couldn't even think it.

Even though Rick looked genuinely sad in that moment, Morty didn't find himself giving it much thought in that particular moment. He wanted to stay alone, as far from Rick as he could. At least for a few minutes until his mind was clear enough for him to start thinking straight again.

Rick looked down at his feet, as if not really knowing what to say. "You know…those things I said about you earlier…I didn't really mean them, you know? I just…I just needed you to-"

"I don't care!" Morty yelled pushing himself off the ground and standing shakily in front of Rick. "You know what? I am done with you constantly messing with my mind! God, I am so _sick_ of your games…of never knowing what is real and what is not."

Rick took a step towards him but Morty backed away, not wanting to have any contact with his grandfather. "Morty…this really wasn't a big deal…you did what you had to do. You saved us."

"I don't know if we're worth saving anymore." Morty admitted quietly. "I…I'm not even sure if you're real or not…I feel like I'm going to explode." Morty felt weak, like all the misery and lack of food were finally catching up with him. But he was running on adrenaline, so there was still some remainders of energy left in him.

"We need to go." Rick said softly. "We're not safe here."

"I don't care." Morty said feeling all the anger leave his body. "You can do whatever you want with me…but after this…we're done. I'm done with your…with your… _adventures_."

Rick only nodded his head. "Fine. I don't care either."

But his last sentence was quickly proven to be just another lie since as soon as Morty took the first step towards the car, his legs gave up and he was about to fall to the ground but Rick was faster. He caught Morty's weak body and without uttering even a single word carried him to the vehicle.

Morty didn't even protest knowing that there was no point in it. He allowed Rick to buckle him up in the passenger seat, he even accepted food from him and ate it eagerly. But during endless hours they spent travelling through space no word was uttered and this time not even music was playing in the background.

Morty found himself liking it that way.


	8. Chapter 8: Imagining Things

The next planet they landed on was much different from the ones they had already visited. _Achainia_ was freezing cold and seemingly lifeless. It was snowing constantly and the light coming from a nearby star was always muffled by dark clouds.

Rick led him to an underground hiding place and this time it didn't look like a nice summer house. Every surface was grey and seemed old as if it had never been used by anyone before.

Morty's grandpa apparently could see that the boy didn't want to talk to him as he left him alone saying that he needed to work on something. The first few days they spent almost not talking to each other at all. Rick would spend hours in his lab while Morty would either walk around or watch TV while trying not to think about anything at all.

Once again Morty had his own bedroom and during the night he could hear nothing but his own breathing which was both good and bad. It felt relieving to finally be left alone with his thoughts but at the same time said thoughts were haunting him and leaving him breathless.

Each time he went to sleep he had nightmares. He could see rotting bodies chasing after him and seeking his heart. Sometimes he would be taken back to that goddamn moment. He would feel everything all over again. All the fear. All the pain.

When he was tired of running from his demons he would look at the glowing green portal gun and wonder if maybe he could make a short trip home. Just to see his family and check if they were alright. At least for a few minutes. Rick would never know about it.

But that stupid wish would probably get them all killed and that was certainly something Morty didn't want to risk. So he would just examine the portal gun hoping that some day it would bring him home.

After a few days of isolation the dark thoughts started slowly disappearing and leaving Morty hungry for human contact. But even though he now understood that killing that Rick had been their only chance, he still couldn't look at his grandpa the same way as before.

The fact that Rick wasn't just mean and snarky, but rather selfish and cynical was now more clear than ever and it was something that Morty didn't want to deal with. He preferred to be delusional and believe that Rick's crazy antics were harmless. But now he was painfully aware of the fact that it wasn't true.

Morty didn't want to imagine what the other Ricks were chasing his grandfather for in the first place. Now it was obvious that it couldn't have been just something silly and relatively vague. It had to be something dark and serious.

But when three days passed Morty couldn't stand the silence anymore. He _needed_ to talk to someone or otherwise he was going to go crazy from only having his grim thoughts for company.

So on the fourth day he wandered over to the lab for the first time. The door was ajar so Morty peeked inside and surely his gaze landed on his grandpa working on some kind of machine. Empty beer and vodka bottles were all over the place and Rick didn't look that great either. His eyes were slightly red and the circles underneath them were more prominent than usual.

Some part of Morty felt bad about not talking to his grandfather for three days straight but he still was angry at him for causing him so much suffering. But he knew he would need to move on eventually, so Morty pushed the door open and entered the lab, ready to face his demons.

Rick's eyes immediately wandered over to him but he didn't stop working on the machine. Morty didn't know if he was just imagining things or not but he thought he saw a glint of joy or hope in Rick's eyes as he carefully studied his grandson's face.

"What are you working on?" Morty asked wanting to avoid talking about what had happened. Even just _looking_ at Rick's face was enough to remind him of everything. But he needed to move on from that and start looking into the future with hope instead of dread.

"Something that will make us invisible to those idiots." Rick murmured connecting some mental part to a small disc-looking thing. The way he said it reminded Morty of the good times they had shared which made him determined to bring those times back or at least try to.

No more rotten corpses chasing after him.

"Need a hand with this?" Morty asked wanting to be occupied with something for a change.

The boy didn't know if it was just him hoping for some kind of miracle or not but he thought he saw the corners of Rick's mouth turn up slightly creating something that resembled a smile. Morty didn't want to give himself a false hope that Rick was now a different person because he knew that his grandpa would never really change. But this could still be considered a good sign. Probably.

"Y-yeah, sure. But don't break anything." Rick said passing two metal blades over to Morty. He lacked his usual attitude but Morty wasn't all that sad about it.

Since Morty's technical skills were about as good as his social skills he ended up watching Rick work rather than actively helping him. But that was fine too. Rick was focused on making his mysterious machine work and Morty was content just observing the way his hands moved and his mind worked.

"So this whole thing…" Morty began knowing that this was the first time since Rick's other selves had attacked them back home that they could really talk without anyone chasing them or Morty having an emotional breakdown. "What is this really about?"

Rick visibly tensed as he put away his tools along with the disk and looked at his grandson with tired eyes. "It's…it's complicated, Morty. I don't think you would understand."

"A-after everything," Morty said shakily trying not to let the painful memories flood his mind. "don't you think you owe me some kind of explanation as to why it's been over a week since I last saw my family?"

Rick looked away and then proceeded to continue working on the machine as if he just realized that talking to Morty while having his hands and mind occupied with something would be easier. "I have something that they want."

"Which is…?" Morty questioned, scared of what he was about to hear from Rick.

The old man wasn't looking at him but his face seemed more stern than before. "I might have…I might have stolen something from them…and theoretically this device may be capable of killing off entire universes."

Morty's eyes widened out slightly. "Why would you need something like that?"

"These fuckheads had stolen it from me _first_ so I...I am certain I have every right to want it back, Morty. Believe it or not but turning everything into shit was not my intention." Rick's voice was cold and bitter but Morty could tell that the harshness was directed not at him but rather at Rick himself.

The boy could see that his grandpa wasn't all that happy about this situation even if he still didn't want to admit to making a mistake. "Then why don't you just return it?" Morty asked even though he doubted that it was as simple as that.

"It wouldn't change shit." Rick said finally locking his eyes with Morty's. The boy didn't know if he was imagining things or not but when he looked closer, under many layers or indifference and arrogance he thought he saw a glint of fear. "Don't freak out but to them we're dead one way or another."

As soon as these words were uttered a cold shiver ran through Morty's bones making him freeze. "…w-what?" He stuttered out trying not to panic.

Rick looked away once more focusing back on the machine. "Jesus, chill. I'm working on this, see?"

For a few seconds Morty stayed silent dreading the answer to the question he was going to ask. "W-we…we're not…coming h-home, are we?" He was stuttering but his jaw was clenched and he couldn't help it nor he cared.

"Calm the fuck down, Morty!" Rick said raising his voice. "D-don't you see that I'm working this out? I'm doing my fucking best to get your ass back home so that you get off my case! Your whining is only slowing everything down. So shut the fuck down and help me or...or otherwise we'll stay in this dead place forever."

This helped Morty think a bit more clearly but he still wasn't happy about this whole situation. Although he wanted to cry again and cut off from everything he knew that was the worst thing he could do then. He needed to focus and help Rick solve the problem he had created in order to be able to finally go home.

"What do I do then?" Morty asked trying to control his voice. The images of his loved ones kept appearing in front of his eyes but he needed to banish them from his mind and focus on what was really important in that moment. No matter how hard it was.

"We need to visit a few places." Rick said taking out his portal gun. "This baby is highly intractable. I've brushed it up a bit."

Looking at Rick's new portal gun Morty couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad would happen again, just like when they had last used it. But this time he wouldn't be the one actually using it and unlike him, Rick probably knew what he was doing.

Rick pushed a button and a familiar green glint created a door to a different place or dimension. "You're coming or not?" Rick asked a little harshly, looking both tired and eager to go. As if he just wanted to get it over with.

Morty really wanted to say no but at the same time he craved control. He _needed_ to feel like he had some kind of control over his life. Even if it was just an illusion.

So he nodded his head. "Yeah, let's do this." Morty said not even wanting to question where they were going in case he would freak out about this. Rick nodded his head in response and without another world stepped through the portal.

Morty took a deep breath bracing himself for what was about to come and followed Rick hoping against hope that they would fix everything.


	9. Chapter 9: Fun Size

Much to his surprise Morty found himself standing in his own living room. He opened his mouth and closed a few times not knowing what to say. He looked over at his grandpa and noticed that Rick didn't look happy at all. Instead he looked even more tired than before.

"What…what…are we doing here?" Morty asked shakily, not quite able to believe that he was home. Maybe Rick was actually dropping him off because he could see how much toll it all had on Morty. But that would be too simple.

Morty looked around hoping to see his family but the house was completely silent. "It's 2AM. Don't bother." Rick said taking a sip out of his flask. "We're in one of the parallel realities. This…this is not your house…and not your family…not really."

"T-then why a-are we here?" Morty asked cursing himself for stuttering like that again. He couldn't help but feel disappointed that it was not his home even if the resemblance was so striking that Morty felt like he wouldn't really mind staying there.

"We need to take Morty from this dimension…" Rick said simply. "…and from few others."

For some reason that Morty wasn't able to identify he was not all that shocked. He just sighed tiredly hoping that it would all end soon. "You do your thing. What do I do?"

"Take this." Rick said passing over to Morty the most normal looking gun the boy had received from him so far. "This…this will make him unconscious. The little fucker would otherwise piss himself or something. We don't need that shit."

Morty looked down at the gun, happy that it supposedly wasn't life-threatening. "What about you?"

"I'll have a little chat with Rick." The man said taking another sip from his flask. He winced, probably noticing that it was empty. "Oh, and I'll probably steal some of his shit."

Morty nodded his head just wanting to get this over with. "I'll see you in five?"

"Yeah, whatever." Rick said walking towards his lab.

Morty took in a shaky breath looking around the room with the pictures of his loved ones all over the walls reminding him that as much as this place looked like his home it wasn't even his world. It belonged to a different Morty. A Morty with his own dreams and fears.

The boy walked upstairs towards his bedroom wondering why Rick needed his other versions for. He didn't want to waste time thinking about it though so he carefully pushed the door open and walked inside.

Everything looked just like Morty remembered it which sent chills down his spine. It was too real and he had trouble handling it. But he quickly reminded himself that as far as he was concerned it was all just a necessary measure to bring them safely to their own home and family, so he gathered all of his courage and looked at the boy hidden underneath the duvet.

Morty slowly approached the bed knowing that he could try to wake him and explain the importance of this but knowing himself that probably wouldn't end very well. Seeing his own face turned towards him was trippy as hell but Morty managed to gain control over the sudden need to check if maybe this was just a dream. Calmly he pulled away the duvet and pressed the barrel against Morty's warm skin. After a brief moment of hesitation he pulled the trigger.

The boy didn't even flinch so Morty pulled him from the bed and dragged downstairs, for once happy that he was that skinny. Rick was already waiting for him, sitting on the sofa and drinking from his flask, alcohol supposedly stolen from his doppelganger.

Seeing his grandson Rick stood from the sofa and walked over to Morty's unconscious body. He leaned forward examining him with eyes half-closed. "W-well…the little fucker is in for…for the time of his life since the…the Rick from here is well…not a very adventurous individual."

"Whatever." Morty said tiredly, panting slightly. "Can we just…go? This…this is way too trippy for me."

Morty's eyes once again travelled through the living room, landing on each and every familiar surface and object that he knew didn't actually belong to his real home. Rick didn't seem to mind his surroundings at all, instead he seemed to be just happy to lay his hands on new storage of his favorite alcohol.

"Well…this…this is only the first place on our list. And trust me…this is the least fucked-up thing you're going to see today." Rick took out of his pocket a sprinkler with a bright pink liquid inside that looked like something used to clean windows and sprinkled some of it on the unconscious Morty which shrank him to the size of a mouse. The miniature version of him he put back inside his pocket and took out his portal gun. "So clench your buttcheeks and hop in." He said opening up a new shiny green portal.

Dreading what was about to come next but also wanting to get it over with as fast as he could, Morty walked into the portal with Rick following closely behind. Once again he found himself in the same exact place but this time it seemed like right was left and left was right.

"It's like…a mirror dimension of ours. Everything is kind of the same but not really." Rick said as if reading his grandson's mind.

And once again Morty had to do the same thing. Find his doppelganger and knock him out with some weird chemicals. Morty had even harder time staying sane as everything was even more messed up and he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

In the third dimension it turned out that Morty was actually awake and seeing himself aiming a gun at him must have been too much of a shock for him as he started crying and begging him not to hurt him. He was apparently too much of a Morty to do anything else though as he just sat with tears streaming down his face and allowed his other self to put him down.

Seeing himself like that, awake and begging him not to hurt him was a bizarre experience but somehow, for some insane reason Morty didn't feel sorry for his doppelganger. A thought passed his mind, a dangerous one, prompting him to think that maybe he was actually starting to turn into Rick.

He chased that thought away though, knowing that for now it was definitely not something he should focus on. Instead he dragged the other Morty downstairs and allowed Rick to take them to yet another dimension where this time, for a change, people didn't really look like people but rather a failed hybrid between a human and a guinea pig.

It was the most traumatizing experience of them all but Morty pulled himself together and brought the furry Morty to Rick. He had to listen to a long list of snarky remarks about the appearance of the newest addition to their Morty collection, but when he was finally done they visited the last dimension according to Rick.

"Holy shit." Morty said with his eyes wide open when they ended up in a big mansion instead of their regular house. "Is this…are we in the right place?"

"Yep." Rick said walking over to the exposed liquor cabinet. "Believe it or not but in a number of universes Beth actually wrote a bestselling novel about her miserable life and that dipshit Jerry."

"Oh, I see." Morty said watching as Rick poured himself a glass of whiskey. "What about you? What…what are _you_ doing in this universe?"

Rick took a sip scrunching up his face. "I hate this shit." He said adding to the glass the content of his flask. "Yeah, well…I'm dead."

"Oh." Somehow the thought that some universes could lack Rick or any other member of their family hadn't crossed Morty's mind. "Why?"

"He killed himself." Rick said in a calm manner, _way_ too calm for Morty's liking. "Guess he was fed up with being hated by his whole family, by his friends and pretty much everyone else."

Morty nodded his head dumbly not really knowing what to say to that. "Why…why was he hated so much?"

Rick snorted with his eyes still glued to the glass. "Why am _I_ hated so much, Morty? Why is the whole multiverse out to kill us?" Before Morty had a chance to answer in any way, Rick added: "Just go find the snob Morty and let's get the fuck out of here."

The boy just nodded his head once more, suddenly feeling unable to say anything that would make a difference. "Where do I find him?"

"How would I know? I don't live here, do I?" Rick said downing another glass of whiskey and refusing to meet his grandson's gaze. "Just…you know…give yourself a tour or something. But make it quick."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Morty said and left the spacious living room, sensing that his grandfather needed to be alone.

The house turned out to be really…expensive. Morty couldn't find a better word to describe it since he didn't really like the décor and everything seemed just too over the top for his liking. Long hallways were rich in ridiculous paintings that portrayed shapes that didn't resemble anything at all.

Morty quickly found himself feeling some kind of coldness beaming from the house as he wandered through its maze-like corridors and rooms. During his search he didn't come across a living soul other than some mosquitoes buzzing above his head.

Only after what felt like hours of walking in circles he noticed a faint light coming from one of the rooms. Gripping the gun tightly in his hands Morty pushed the door open and almost tripped over his own feet when he saw himself making out with Jessica on the king-size bed in the middle of the room.

"Oh, shit." Morty said to himself feeling his cheeks heat up just from looking at what his life looked like in that particular dimension.

"What the fuck?!" He heard a surprised and almost horrified cry as the rich Morty pushed Jessica off him and gaped at his doppelganger with terrified expression on his face.

"Relax. I'm not…I'm not going to h-hurt either of you, o-okay?" Morty said holding up his hands in surrender, as if he wasn't going to basically kidnap him.

"Morty, what the actual fuck is going on?! Why is there two of you?!" Jessica asked curling in on herself on the bed and looking between the two boys.

"I…ugh…Oh, Jeez." Morty muttered to himself rubbing his face tiredly and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with Jessica. "You know…it's really not a big deal…I just…I'm going to…" And before the bizarre situation could lead to something bad Morty aimed his gun at other Morty's arm and pulled the trigger hoping for the best.

The bullet landed in Morty's stomach but it apparently worked as well as the boy immediately dropped unconscious. "The hell?!" Jessica screamed getting off the bed. "What…THE…HELL…are…you?" She asked shakily backing into the corner with her arms wrapped around her torso.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sure he's had a fantastic time with you. I know, I would." Morty said before he pulled the trigger one more time and this time the bulled landed exactly where it was supposed to.

Morty knew that it wasn't exactly _nice_ to just put someone down like that and he felt a bit guilty about it, but at least it was not hurting her and she would just wake up in a few hours. It was for the best since neither Morty nor Jessica from this universe were familiar with weird things usually happening in their town.

"Well, at least now you know the bitch's just going after the money." Rick said after listening to Morty's recap of his recent capture. "You know…he's just as ugly as you…so the fucking gold digger only wanted him for the money. Poor fucker."

Morty just watched his grandfather shrink yet another version of him wondering what it really was all for. "Well, we're coming back to the Antarctica now, right?"

" _Achainia_ , Morty. Jeez, you could at least _try_ remembering the name." Rick said opening the portal. "But yeah. We're coming back."

"So what now?" Morty asked, ready for nearly anything, just to come back to his family and lead a semi-normal life.

"Now we hope these fuckers aren't too mad for being kidnapped. Especially the rich one." Rick said putting the last Morty into his pocket. "Yeah, there might be some problems with him."


	10. Chapter 10: Trapped

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I would really appreciate some feedback, whether praise or criticism.**

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Morty looked over Rick's shoulder and saw him write sloppily _Guinea pig Morty_ on something that resembled a very shitty bracelet. "Why…why do we even need to know which is which? Isn't this kind of obvious with this one?" Morty asked.

"Trust me, Morty." Rick said shrinking the five bracelets. "You know…weird shit may happen...who knows…for all we know they might go fucking crazy and do something stupid. It may come in handy eventually." He added putting the bracelets on Mortys' hands. Then he moved over to a small object that Morty hadn't even noticed before.

Morty's eyes widened out when he noticed that it was a small hamster cage. He winced seeing Rick put the still unconscious versions of him from another timelines inside it. "Is this…humane?" He asked looking at his grandpa in suspicion.

"Sure, it is." Rick replied attaching a small container filled with water to the cage. "See? It's not like they're gonna _die_ or anything, Morty."

Morty still wasn't happy about their living arrangements but at least they weren't going to hurt themselves if they went crazy. "Okay, I guess. But what do we need them for anyway?"

"Ugh, come. I'll show you." Rick said rolling his eyes as if Morty's questions were just annoying him. He walked into his lab with Morty following him and watching as his grandpa started pushing some buttons on his newest machine he had been working on for the last few days. "See…this should help us get home…well, not necessary home per se since our universe is busted, but if we don't screw anything up again we _will_ be able to take Beth, Summer and well, even _Jerry_ and move to another reality where no one will trace us."

"A n-new reality?" Morty asked, not sure if he was ready for such a huge leap.

"Yes, get over it." Rick said, clearly not up for dealing with his grandson's doubts.

Morty nodded his head looking down at his feet. He didn't like the idea of moving to a whole different universe but if that meant being reunited with his family then he had to learn to live with it. "But you still haven't answered. Why do we need them?"

"See…the portal gun may not be easy to trace but after some time they will figure out where we are, no matter what we do. They are _Ricks_ after all." Rick kept pushing the buttons, not even looking at his grandson. "But there is a reason why almost every Rick sticks with a Morty…and no, that's not because of _love_." He said this word with such disgust that Morty almost took a step back. "…or any other obstructing attachments for that matter."

Rick went on explaining to Morty how their brain waves were able to cancel each other out and basically make them invisible to any regular radars, but not to other Ricks. "So…if I record brain waves of more than just one Morty then I might get a pattern that would make us disappear and never have to deal with those fucking idiots again."

"Oh, it sounds nice." Morty said, hoping that for once something would go their way.

"It does." Rick said but there was no sign of enthusiasm in his voice. "Just…don't do something stupid this time and don't screw this up for us with your _good intentions_."

Morty narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, didn't point out that he had saved them both, almost killing himself in the process. "So…how will you do it?" He asked instead.

"So now with the fun part." Rick said, sounding much more alive than before, almost excited. "Meet Talerica!" He said with a proud smile gesturing at the small machine.

Morty's eyes widened out as he remembered the terrifying face behind such an innocent name. "H-how…how do you even know about her?" He asked not remember saying her name to Rick at all.

"You sure talk a lot when you're high on meds, Morty." Rick said with a smirk.

"What…what the fuck, Rick?" Morty asked, suddenly feeling anger cruising through his vines. He wasn't even sure why he was being so emotional about it but for some reason he felt mad at Rick for naming the machine that was supposed to save them after the girl that had tried to molest him. "Why…why would you name it like that?"

Rick shrugged. "Relax, Morty It's…it's not a big deal, you know? It's just an additional piece of information that will be used to create the pattern." Rick grabbed a screwdriver and started tinkering with the machine once more. "And don't worry…this girl won't try to rape you."

Morty couldn't imagine how naming the machine _Talerica_ of all the names would be helpful but it wasn't like he was having nightmares because of that unpleasant encounter, so he just nodded his head looking at _her_ with narrowed eyes. "When are we going to start?"

"When I put data receivers and transmitters inside your brains." Rick said calmly with his eyes focused on some small and seemingly delicate part of Talerica.

Morty's eyes went wide and he blinked a few times, surprised by Rick's words. "W-what? What…what do you mean by ' _you'_?" He asked shakily, not happy at the prospect of something being put inside his brain. "You…you don't need me. You have all of them…I'm…I'm just going to watch with you, right?"

"The more data the more effective the pattern." Rick finally locked his eyes with Morty's putting away all the tools. "And need I remind you that only if we do this right you will be able to see your family again and stop whining about it all the time?"

Morty sighed, still not convinced that he wanted to do it even if it meant a better chance of being reunited with his mom and dad. On the other hand though, he knew that no matter how awful and selfish Rick could get, he wouldn't intentionally hurt his grandson. "Ugh, fine."

"As if it were ever up for discussion." Rick remarked. He opened up one of the drawers and took out a syringe. Then he grabbed a miniature metal piece from the counter, mixed it with some liquid and put it inside the syringe.

"What…what it is?" Morty asked watching in horror as Rick approached him and without a word injected his head with it. "Hey! W-what…?"

"The transmitter/receiver, Morty. Are you even listening to me? Jesus." Rick said putting the syringe back on the counter. "Now, we have to do the same with the other dipshits. Take this." The old man put other miniature metal parts inside a jar and shoved it into his grandson's hands.

They walked into a room that they didn't really use for anything other than storage, but now was the home of Morty's five doppelgangers. The boy looked inside the hamster cage and discovered that they all were still asleep.

"Move." Rick ordered pushing Morty away from the cage. He opened it and took them all out before unshrinking them by once again sprinkling them with some kind of chemicals, this time bright yellow.

The boy watched with mild disgust each Morty get injected with the weird device that was supposed to save them from other Ricks that were out to kill them. Rick's movements were precise and he seemed more focused than ever even if he winced a little when he had to touch guinea pig Morty.

When he was done he watched the five of them with narrowed eyes, as if he wasn't all that convinced that it would work. "So what now?" Morty asked, slightly scared of what he was about to hear from his grandpa.

Rick took a sip from his flask and burped loudly. "Well…I still need to do some shit with Talerica that I won't even bother explaining to you and you could just stay here until they wake up." Morty opened his mouth to protest, but Rick kept going. "You have to make sure that they don't go fucking ballistic when they realize that they're not in their dreams anymore with rainbow vomit."

Morty looked at their unconscious bodies, not even wanting to think how they were going to react to basically being held hostage in an alien universe, on an alien planet. On the other hand they were Mortys which meant that they should be used to bizarre circumstances. "How…how do I even explain it to them?"

Rick shrugged. "I don't know. Make shit up. Or tell them the truth. Either way I don't give a fuck." And with that he walked out of the room leaving Morty alone with his doppelgangers.

The boy sighed loudly wondering for the millionth time how the hell they had managed to screw things up so badly. He approached the Mortys cautiously and for the first time took a closer look at them searching for any differences between him and his look-alikes. Well, the difference in the guinea pig Morty was quite obvious and the rich Morty looked as if worked out every once in a while. The other three though could be easily mistaken as him.

Not having anything else to do Morty sat down on the floor with his back leaned against the wall wishing that he had his cell phone with him. Had he known what was about to happen he would have surely grabbed it from the table before paying a visit in Rick's garage. Instead he was forced to watch the other Mortys dreading the moment of their awakening.

Just after a few minutes the first Morty woke up, the one from the mirror dimension according to the bracelet around his wrist. His eyes went wide comically as he scanned the room with them and his gaze landed on the other Morty beside him, the guinea pig one. "Jesus!" He screamed but after further inspection of the room he seemed to calm down. "Oh, Rick. What have you done again?" He asked to himself softly, as if he couldn't be bothered.

"Ugh, hi." Morty said, hoping to start a friendly conversation, well as friendly as if could get under such circumstances.

"Yeah, yeah." The other one said reaching a hand over to his pants pocket and frowning. "I've been over this way too many times, _Morty_." He looked down at himself, as if only then noticing that he was wearing his pajamas. "Shit. No cell phone for me then."

"O-over what?" Morty asked, taken aback by bow different from him his doppelganger was. He seemed almost…self-confident.

"So I don't know about your Rick but mine often hangs out with the only people he can _really_ talk to which are – you know – other Ricks." He said calmly, as if it was not the first time he was explaining it to someone. "Of course they all take their Mortys along for one reason or another but since they don't really want us to annoy them, they make a _playroom_ for us which…" He looked around, at the bare walls and other Mortys. "…looks exactly like this. Oh, we even have the bracelets." He added holding up his wrist. "So that they don't mix us up."

Morty blinked his eyes a few times, surprised that the situation the other Morty was describing was seemingly so similar to the one they were currently in. "Oh, no. It's actually something else. You know…it's-" But before he could even start coming up with the perfect explanation the guinea pig Morty woke up as well.

"Fuck!" Was the first thing that left his mouth as he looked around himself and locked his eyes with Morty. "Who… _what_ ….the fuck are you?!" His shrieks unfortunately woke the other three up which in turn started what could only be described as a complete fucking disaster.

They all started yelling, crying and whining. Morty kept trying to calm them down but nothing was working. The snob Morty seemed the most freaked out of them all as he quietly moved to the corner and wrapped his arms around his knees before starting to rock himself back and forth and murmuring nonsense under his breath.

"Oh, fuck." Morty said to himself not knowing what to do. He needed to calm them down or otherwise Rick would probably be once again disappointed in his lack of any skills whatsoever. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He yelled on top of his lungs with nothing better to do. They all instantly went silent and Morty knew that it was his only chance to gain their trust. "Or I swear to God I will…I will sedate each and every single one of you again. And nobody wants that!"

Apparently Morty's bluff was working as the crying ended and he could actually hear his thoughts. "Wait… _you_ brought us here?" The mirror Morty asked raising his eyebrows.

"Y-yeah, you could say that." Morty said shakily.

"Why would you do this though?" He asked.

"We just really need your help." Morty said deciding to be as honest as he could without giving away the reason why the other Ricks were chasing after his own. "Listen, me and my Rick…we are in trouble and we just want to be reunited with our family…and we need your help with that."

"Who the fuck is Rick?!" The rich Morty asked, his voice shaking slightly. He was looking around at all the other faces, nearly all of them identical to his own. "What…what is this…t-this place? And why the fuck do you all look like me?"

The other Mortys looked slightly confused, nearly apologetic, as if they didn't even know how to start explaining how different their worlds were from his. "Look, man." Morty began sensing that he should be the one to tell him what was going on. "It's a bit… _complicated_ but I'm sure you'll understand…eventually."

The mirror Morty snorted looking at everyone else with clear amusement, as if the whole situation was still usual to him even despite it not really being what he had expected. Morty wished he could be that confident. "So…would you be so kind to explain why you have brought us all here?" The mirror Morty asked with a spark in his eye, as if challenging him.

"S-sure." Morty said raising to his feet and wondering how the hell he was supposed to do that. He started pacing the small room back and forth hoping to come up with something that would make them stay there and not try to run away or worse. Morty was really hoping to get them to agree to helping them even if he was positive that Rick would force them to do whatever he wanted one way or another. "So…you see…"

But before he could finish the door swung open and Rick walked in carrying Talerica in his hands. It was an oval metal machine that was no bigger than the hamster cage but somehow just looking at it was making Morty shiver with cold. "So, listen…" Rick began sloppily, not even looking at all the Mortys, but rather focusing on the machine. "Your _willing_ contribution is greatly appreciated. May…God reward you in children…or whatever." Rick said pushing some buttons on the machine. "So…I'll see you in a few days…hopefully."

"Wait…what?" Morty asked, not understanding what Rick meant by that. He walked over to him. "What the fuck, Rick? I don't want to be stuck here for days…with them."

"Jeez, chill." Rick said finally looking at him. "There's a fridge and even a motherfucking crapper." He gestured at the small fridge in the corner and a door next to it. "There should be enough food for a couple of days and toilet paper too."

"But Rick-"

"Do you want to go home or not?" Rick asked harshly, his eyes red and only half-open as if he was once again under influence. "Do I really need to remind you one more time how important getting this pattern is? If there isn't enough data we will stay in this fucking shithole forever. It's either being stuck here for a few days or being stuck here forever."

Morty opened his mouth to protest but he quickly closed it looking down at his feet. "O-okay. What are we supposed to do here?"

"I don't know. Play strip poker if you into this kind of weird shit." Rick replied with a shrug. Then his face softened slightly and he rested his hand on Morty's shoulder. "Listen, Morty. It's going to be fine, okay? It's not like they're going to kill you."

Morty still wasn't eager to be stuck with his doppelgangers but he suspected that it was the only way. "Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing? I'm not agreeing to this!" The mirror Morty suddenly spoke up, this time clearly more angry without the smirk attached to his face.

"Oh, shit." Rick said backing away towards the door. "And that's my cue to go." And without saying anything else he walked out of the room and locked the door with a loud click.

Morty just stared at the closed door letting the chaos evoke around him. The Mortys seemed angry, confused and depressed. Only after close to two hours of yelling and banging on the door they all calmed down and sat on the floor with empty eyes. Only the rich Morty kept his eyes glued to the guinea pig one. "Why do you keep staring at me like that, huh?" The latter asked, clearly both exhausted and angry. "You _do_ realize that to me _you_ all look fucking ridiculous and disgusting, right?"

The rich Morty finally looked away with tears sparkling in his eyes. Morty didn't even want to imagine how fucked up it had to be for him. Even though he was quite used to his life being a little different from what he would have imagined, being locked in a room with his five doppelgangers on an alien planet was still not something he thought he would be doing.


	11. Chapter 11: A Nightmare

**A/N: I don't even know what to say. I don't even remember why I stopped writing this story. I guess I just didn't know what to do with it. But I just finished watching Gravity Falls and it inspired me and I think that I have a clear idea of where this story is going. Besides, it'd be cool to finish it before season 4 rolls around. So enjoy and leave a review if you can.**

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The crippling truth that Morty could never get the chance to see his family again had made itself at home in his mind some time ago. He was starting to get used to it even if it wasn't getting any easier to dwell on those thoughts. Thinking them as rarely as possible was how the boy was managing to stay somewhat-sane.

And somehow here he was, opening his eyes to discover that he was cooped up in his own bed, in his own bedroom. Morty threw the sheets off his body, panting as if he had just woken up from a terrible nightmare – which he kind of had.

Everything looked normal – as if they had never left in the first place. Morty left his room wandering through the house in search of his family. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. For all he knew this could be a reality different from his own. And the worst part was that he wouldn't even know the difference.

But as soon as Morty walked down the stairs he felt a familiar smell of his mother's pancakes. And as that happened some of the doubts left him and he realized just how tired he was. And not physically but rather mentally from all the running and scheming with Rick. The events from the past couple of days were pushed to the back of his mind as he entered the kitchen.

The scene playing out in front of his eyes was truly serene – if having a family breakfast at the Smith-Sanchez household could be called as such. His mother was serving Jerry pancakes while he was complaining about how there wasn't a job for him. Summer had her nose stuck in her cell phone, typing furiously. And Rick was shoveling pancakes into his mouth with a bored expression on his face.

"M-mom?" Was the first word that left Morty's mouth. The woman in question looked at her son and smiled softly.

"Oh, you're awake." She said as the rest of the family turned to look at Morty. "You must be hungry."

As if on cue Morty's stomach rumbled. "Oh, yeah. I am." He said sitting down by the table.

Beth put pancakes onto Morty's place and the boy started eating. But as he ate he realized how weird it was that his family was acting so...normal – as if they hadn't been gone for more than a week. Morty looked to his grandpa but the old man just shook his head and continued eating. So Morty did the same hoping that Rick would explain everything to him later.

Right after breakfast Morty followed Rick into his lab. "What happened?" He asked as soon as they were alone.

"My plan worked, duh. That's what happened." Rick said reaching for his flask. "That would be a good time for you to say-" The man took his time taking a swing and then burping. "-ugh, thank you, you know? For saving us and all that."

"But how?" The boy asked not understanding anything at all. "Why don't I remember anything? And, and what about the other Mortys? And why isn't everyone freaking out about us being gone for so long?"

Rick sighed. "I kind of erased their memories so that they don't ask me stupid questions – kind of like you're doing now." He took another swing of the alcohol. "I did the same with you – to a point. I thought it could be useful for you to remember some of it."

"And the Mortys?"

"The fuckers are safe at their homes."

The boy let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding this whole time. It wasn't that bad. He could live with it and go back to his life. Except…

"Wait. H-how do I know if it's real? If it's our home? For all I know you could be lying! This...this could be a completely new universe."

Rick didn't seem to be at all phased by Morty's accusations. "For the record, this _is_ a completely new universe. But Beth, Summer and Jerry are the ones from that old one." He paused for a moment, clearly sensing that Morty's mind was about to blow up. "Listen, Morty. You could spend the rest of your life poking holes and drive yourself fucking nuts but at the end of the day you've got to ask yourself...does it even matter? Of course I could prove all this mathematically to you but you wouldn't understand shit."

Morty ducked his head knowing that Rick was right. "Fair enough."

So that was exactly what Morty did. There were still a lot of questions on his mind but he decided to let go and just enjoy life. He did what any fourteen year old boy with a mad scientist for a grandpa would do. He went to school scoring mediocre grades while occasionally joining Rick on his adventures.

He tried not to think about the past and even if every once in a while he would have nightmares about two lifeless dots chasing after him he was alright. For the most part. He could pretend that what he was having nightmares about was nothing more than that – a nightmare.

It was all fine. Hell, more than fine. It was _perfect_.


	12. Chapter 12: The World As We Know It

The queen of bloblians was a terrifying creature with her twelve heads, wings and sharp teeth. "Ugh, Rick?" The boy kept wiggling but his body was tied to a pole and the more he struggled the more stuck he seemed to be. The pole was attached to a small piece of a floating rock and was surrounded by a lake of fire with terrifying creatures swimming in it.

While the temperature seemed to be raising with each passing second Rick didn't seem to care at all, as per usual. Instead he was focused on keeping a matter transforming tool the queen wanted from him for himself. "You can take the kid. Just let me have this thing." Rick said calmly with tossing his half-empty flask from one hand to the other.

Morty assured himself that _of course_ he was bluffing, of course the man had something up his sleeve. As much as the old man liked to pretend that he didn't have a heart Morty was starting to believe that after all they'd been through maybe he _did_ have one after all.

The queen wheezed and rumbled wrapping one of her furry tentacles around Morty's neck. Rick just stood there pouring the remaining liquid into his mouth. "Yeah, I have no idea what you just said."

The alien's skin turned scarlet red and her grip on Morty's neck tightened cutting off his air supply. The boy wanted to yell at Rick to hurry the fuck up with whatever plan he had but he could barely focus his vision, much less produce any sound. Rick's eyes shifted to him for a moment but then he sighed. "I don't need this old piece of shit anyway." He said tossing the aforementioned device at the queen.

The alien reached out one of her tentacle for the matter transforming device while tossing Morty across the sea of fire. The boy landed on the hard ground struggling to catch his breath and yelping in pain at the same time. "Get your ass up, Morty. We're getting out of this shithole." Rick said pulling his grandson up to his feet and basically pushing him through the portal.

Soon enough Morty found himself on the floor of their garage still wheezing and shaking. "Oh, don't be such a bitch, Morty. Pull your shit together and help me make the new transformer."

When Morty finally managed to catch his breath he realized what Rick had just done for him. "Wow, Rick. You saved my life in there." He said with a smirk knowing how much it would annoy his grandpa.

"Beth would kill me if I didn't bring you home so thank _her_."

But Morty knew that it was more than that. He was starting to think that things were finally looking up for them. Ever since they had returned from that awful trip across the multiverse their lives were somehow drama-free. Even Jessica smiled at him once or twice which had to be a good sign. As if the stars in their universe finally aligned allowing them to have normal lives – or at least as normal as life with Rick could be.

They ate dinner with the whole family and soon after that Morty went up to his bedroom and started getting ready for bed. And once he was comfortably wrapped in the sheets he felt like tomorrow would be just another fantastic day.

But just as his eyes closed the whole house started shaking. Morty jolted – suddenly fully awake once more wondering if it was an earthquake or if it was another one of Rick's antics. But no, Morty realized that it was something far different when a golden glint caught his attention. He looked through the window and noticed that the sky seemed to be tearing apart in the most beautiful spectacle known to man.

It looked as if liquid gold was cascading from a big tear in the middle of the pitch black sky. "Oh, man. What again?" Morty muttered to himself thinkinh that this kind of event had to be somehow related by his grandpa. He just hoped that it wasn't the end of the world – or rather that it wasn't the end of the world that his genius grandfather couldn't fix.

But then, among the gold, a familiar figure appeared. "What is happening?" He asked no one in particular when the figure turned out to be Summer. Summer as in his sister Summer that he had just seen eating dinner and arguing about going to some party.

The girl floated down onto the ground and started running towards the house. "Morty!" She called as soon as her eyes landed on her brother standing in the window. Dumbfounded the boy just stood there, neither moving nor saying anything to his sister.

When he saw that Summer ran inside the house the boy quickly left his room to check whether or not his sister's room was empty. "What do you want, dork?" She asked when Morty opened the door without knocking.

"Ugh, n-nothing." He replied quickly shutting the door. And just as he did so he felt a pair of arms wrap around his body from behind.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Morty frowned realizing that he had never heard his sister sound so sincere.

"Summer? What the hell is going on?" He asked turning around to face the girl.

Once again he had a shock of a lifetime as he saw tears sparkling in his sister's eyes. Something had to be seriously fucked-up for Summer to be acting like that. "That would be a lot of explaining." She said. "For now all you need to know is that we must get out of here ASAP."

The girl wrapped her palm around Morty's wrist and started pulling him down the stairs. Still confused the boy followed her absentmindedly and only when he realized that his sister was pulling him towards the golden rift he stopped. "No. Before I follow you into God knows what you need to tell me what is going on. Whatever it is that we're dealing with I'm sure it has something to do with Rick. So if we talk to him-"

"No." Summer said simply. "No talking to the old man. Or to anyone else here for that matter." She said squeezing her eyes and looking around suspiciously.

"What? Why?" Morty asked. "Who are you?"

Summer sighed. "I'm Summer. Your sister."

"My sister is in her bedroom!" Morty exclaimed feeling himself start to panic. His life had been so idle recently. Only regular teenage stuff with a good old Rick and Morty adventure thrown in every now and then. Of course it couldn't stay that way forever. "Oh, Jeez." He said, his head spinning. "What happened in your universe that you had to come to mine?"

Summer looked sad, apologetic even. As if having this conversation was hurting her. "A bunch of Ricks appeared out of nowhere chasing my grandpa and brother out of their home." She paused for a moment. "And when I found out how dangerous Rick's plan was for you I agreed to help them track you so I could save you."

"Your insane, Summer." Morty said with a shake of his head. "I don't know who you are. And I'm not going anywhere with you." Before the girl had a chance to do anything her brother started running back towards the house, towards Rick's garage to be more exact.

He stormed inside only to find Rick tinkering with another one of his weird devices. "Rick! Rick!" Morty yelled looking over his shoulder to check if Summer was following.

"What do you want, Morty?" Rick asked not even looking up. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"There...there's some kind of hole in the sky or something! We have to do something about it!" He exclaimed pointing at the abnormal golden blaze displayed across the night sky through the open garage door.

Rick finally lifted his eyes and looked outside. "What are you talking about, Morty? What hole? There's nothing there."

"What? But-"

"He can't see it." Summer said entering the garage.

Rick didn't seem to notice his granddaughter's presence as he returned to working on the device while cursing under his breath about Morty's incompetence.

"I...I don't understand." Morty said hopelessly looking around.

"He can't see it because he's not real." Summer continued on. "None of this is real." She said gesturing around. "It's all made up."

"Made up?" Morty repeated.

"Yeah. By your mind or something." Summer said. "The other Ricks explained it to me. It's something about the brain not being able to deal with the pain. You created a whole reality for yourself because you are in so much pain."

"What?" Morty's whole world was literally shattering as Summer spoke. He didn't want to believe that her words were true.

"I'm sorry." She said simply. "The truth is that you never really left Achainia."


	13. Chapter 13: Slumber

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please, drop a review to tell me what you like or don't like.**

* * *

As the truth became apparent Morty watched the reality around him collapse in on itself. "Oh, jeez." He muttered thinking to himself that he should have noticed that something was off. Rick lacked his sharp edge more often than not, his parents hardly ever fought and Summer...well she was pretty much the same. But still. Things had been way too good recently.

Suddenly everything became clear. Morty looked at Rick who turned out to not be doing anything in particular. He was just pouring liquid from one tube to another, over and over again. "But...it wasn't always like that. We have just been on another planet! And it was the way it always is!"

Summer still looked miserable as she just stood there and watched her brother descend into madness. "It seemed that way because you wanted it to."

Morty shook his head. "No." He said firmly but he didn't even know what he meant. Was he rejecting what his sister was saying even if it seemed more and more probable with each passing second? Or was he rejecting the probability that he was in an allegedly massive amount of pain caused by Rick? Probably both.

"Now we need to go." Summer said taking a step towards Morty and reaching out her hand. "Come with me."

Morty looked at Summer's hand weighing his options. He looked around, at the perfect world that he created for himself, and wondered if the fact that it wasn't real made it any less appealing. It didn't. Not by much. "Well, what if I don't want to leave?" He asked backing away from Summer. "Maybe this is better than the real world? Here, at least Rick won't have the chance to...to ruin my life. To nearly kill me on multiple occasions."

"Listen to yourself, Morty. You sound crazy." Summer said but she was starting to look a little scared. "Think about our parents. If we don't get to Rick in time the other Ricks will arrest them."

Morty frowned. "What? Why? They didn't do anything!"

"To prove a point. You more than anyone know how they are." She shrugged. "But listen, Morty. It's more than that. If you don't get out of this soon you...you're going to die." His sister usually acted like she didn't care about Morty but in that moment the facade was off and he could see how truly scared she was.

Morty was starting to reconsider. As wonderful as this world was it probably wasn't the wisest to stay if it meant dying. But at the same time was there anything better waiting for him outside? Or just more suffering and feeling responsible for every awful thing that Rick had done or may end up doing in the future?

But Summer was already holding his hand again and pulling him towards the rift so he followed her hoping that it was the right thing to do and that he wouldn't come to regret it. "Now you need to listen to me. When we come out...well, you'll feel the pain and if what the Ricks told me is true you need to be ready because apparently it's something they've never seen before."

That made Morty stop. Of course he had heard Summer say that he was in a massive amount of some kind of pain but up to that point that thought hadn't really registered in his mind. So once again he freed himself of his sister's grip and started backing away. "I-I don't know if I want that, Summer."

"But you'll die if you stay!" Summer yelled.

Morty thought about it long and hard. Of course he didn't want to die but he wasn't exactly sure that what he would find outside would be much better than death. He didn't know how long he had left in this place but maybe if it was all created by his mind he could gain control of it and manipulate with the time so that it would stretch.

So Morty concentrated and imagined time slowing down and surely it did. Everything around him – including Summer – froze. As soon as that happened the boy took a deep breath and sat down on the ground. He looked up at the golden rift and concentrated once more. Soon it disappeared revealing a familiar night sky with stars scattered all over it.

Then he imagined the time moving forward again but in a more specific way. The world came back to life except for Summer. She was still standing mid-movement. That was more like it. _This_ could actually work.

* * *

Soon Morty realized just how awesome this new, improved world was. If he could manipulate time then he could manipulate everything else as well. So a new era began. Suddenly Jerry found an amazing job and he and Beth were the best spouses and parents in the world. Summer became quiet and would more often than not be in her bedroom so that she wouldn't remind Morty of his real sister still standing frozen on the sidewalk outside the house.

And Morty would often find himself on cute little dates with Jessica who of course didn't mind how socially awkward he was. As a matter of fact all the girls in his school wanted to go on a date with Morty. But the boy was faithful – or at least he was doing his best to be.

Only Rick remained unchanged – or at least as unchanged as he could be with Morty knowing that he could alter every aspect of him that he wished.

So for a few weeks or months (Morty lost track at some point) his life was perfect in every imaginable way. Only after that time he started feeling like some kind of fog was starting to be lifted from his mind. He soon discovered that he didn't cling to his past life because he didn't remember it very much.

And this was turning out to be much better than the real life. And it was all his creation. _His_ , not Rick's. Guess they had all been wrong to think so little of Morty. His parents to think that he would always remain stupid and Rick to think that he was nothing more than a camouflaging tool.

All those thoughts were running through Morty's mind as he watched Jessica take a bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The boy could just watch her for hours on end. They didn't even have to talk for him to enjoy her company. Even though it was all an illusion it didn't make it any less real to him.

The girl finished eating and smiled at Morty raising her eyebrows suggestively. Morty watched her bite down on her bottom lip and jumped when she moved so close to him that their legs were touching. "I want you, Morty." She whispered to him making the boy blush. "Right. Now."

Soon she closed the gap between them touching his lips with her own. They tasted like candy and in that moment Morty knew that he would never find anything even close to what he had here in the real world.

But just as they were really getting into it Morty noticed a familiar golden blaze. He stopped kissing Jessica and saw that the rift in fact was back. But this time it was smaller and located in Morty's bedroom. He concentrated and soon enough the rift was gone leaving him alone with his dream girl.

He didn't think about it again until late at night while he was looking through the window at Summer. No matter how hard he tried or for how long he concentrated she remained there with the most heartbroken expression on her face. Morty knew that if she could she would judge the hell out of him but luckily it was only her cold gaze scolding his choice.

Morty closed the blinds and went to sleep, though, he knew he didn't really need to sleep. But there was something about it that Morty just couldn't give up on the pleasant sensation. Besides, there was nothing like falling asleep without a care in the world, knowing that the next day would be as wonderful as the one before.

But that night was different. He didn't dream about Jessica or adventures with Rick. Instead, what he saw was a family dinner but he couldn't tell whether it was a real memory or just a figment of his imagination.

All he knew that it was painfully real. The roasted chicken was burnt. Beth and Jerry were arguing about something trivial while the rest of the family knew that it was just to hide their real more serious issues. Rick was watching the exchange indifferently while occasionally throwing mild insults at Jerry. And Summer for once wasn't typing on her phone. She actually seemed worried about her parents.

It wasn't pleasant or nice. The dinner was anything but.

When Morty woke up he didn't feel happy. When he ate breakfast with his family they it taste that great. For the first time when Morty looked at his mother's easy smile he could see how fake it was. There was nothing real or sincere about it. In fact their conversation seemed stale, boring, as if they were making conversation just because they were being forced to. Which they kind of were.

Morty spent a better part of that day in Rick's garage. Only then he realized how different his grandfather was. He was like a NPC. Not really making real conversations and only engaging in them if Morty wanted him to. It was sad.

Throughout that day more rifts appeared and Morty was having a hard time making them disappear. They did disappear eventually but it was getting harder and harder to wish them away. It was starting to worry Morty.

That night Jessica didn't visit Morty. He stayed in his bedroom alone thinking if it was all really better than going back. He didn't want the pain. He didn't want to deal with real life problems but at the same he was starting to feel like he was suffocating.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to talk to Summer, would it?

So he did just that. He left the house and went to the spot where Summer stood like a statue. He looked at her for quite some time before finally he gathered all of his willpower and focused it on his sister. It took a lot out of him but eventually Summer came back to life.

But as soon as that happened a complete havoc evoked. The sky broke apart and the stars started falling to the ground. Hideous creatures of animals morphed with humans or plant emerged seemingly out of nowhere whining and screeching. The gravity stopped working and they were all floating.

Morty grabbed Summer's arm so that they wouldn't float away from each other. The girl looked around as if expecting to see exactly that. "Well, now we're like...fucked, Morty. Thanks."


	14. Chapter 14: Dead Man Walking

"I guess your mind must be melting or something." Summer pointed out as they floated through the remnants of Morty's mind. "Wow, I didn't think it would happen _this_ fast."

"T-that's not important now, Summer." Morty said deciding that his little time freezing adventure wasn't worth mentioning. "What do we do now?"

Summer shrugged. "Well, I'm not a genius scientist but my guess would be that we need to get the hell out of here as soon as we can."

Morty was eager to just nod his head and go along with her plan but he still wasn't sure if that was what he wanted. Yet, as he looked around at all the chaos he realized that he was probably way past the point of having the choice.

It was either going outside or dying here – probably not in the most pleasant way but rather by slowly going insane and losing his senses. "Oh, man." He said to himself realizing that it was finally time that he would be confronted with the reality. "H-how do we get out of here then?"

Though Summer didn't look exactly happy her face relaxed and she _did_ look calmer. "I'm glad you've come to your sense." She said. "If I understand correctly we just need to go straight into one of those holes."

Morty nodded his head even though he was feeling scared. "O-okay." His voice was unsure, shaky but his sister didn't seem to care.

The boy gladly allowed her to take the lead. They drifted over to what once probably was the roof of their house as Summer wrapped her arms around Morty and bounced her legs off the edge. The momentum sent them straight towards one of the bigger rifts.

The golden hole in the multi-color sky kept getting closer and closer. Morty closed his eyes shut and clutched his palms into fists bracing himself for what he suspected would be a harsh awakening.

* * *

"Morty? Morty!"

But his mind felt like it was fragmented and those words meant nothing to him.

All he knew was that it hurt.

It hurt like _hell_ and he couldn't even identify the source of the pain. It was as if his whole body was on fire and yet at the same time it felt like the pain was coming from within him. Like his demons had come to taunt him.

"Morty! Wake up!"

But even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Morty's whole body was heavy like a pile of rocks. He couldn't even open his eyes to see what was happening around him. Not that he cared because with that kind of pain it was hard to care about anything at all.

"Lemme get in here." Morty felt a pressure on his arm but his mind barely registered it. What he really noticed though was the immediate pain relief.

It didn't go away completely but it was dulled. Not enough to ignore it but enough so that Morty could focus on anything other than it.

So he finally managed to open his eyes. What he found was Summer hovering over him. "That should work for some time." Rick said standing next to Summer and looking at Morty indifferently.

And seeing that cold gaze flipped a switch that had apparently been buried deep inside. Now it wasn't just the psychical pain that he was feeling. There was also a psychological one.

"Are you okay, Morty?" Summer asked worriedly trying to help her brother get up.

But Rick apparently wasn't having any of that. "Quit with the bullshit, Summer." He said grabbing Morty's shirt and pulling him up to his feet.

It wasn't his Rick. Judging from his uniform he was one of the Citadel Ricks that had been chasing after them for so long. But it didn't change anything.

Looking at him all Morty could see were all the times he had done horrible things because of his grandfather in the name of...he didn't even know what. And the pain still ringing in his ears was more than enough to make him realize just what kind of person Rick really was.

Morty finally had a chance to look at his surroundings. And as soon as he did so he regretted it. He was still inside the same room that Rick had locked him and the other Mortys in.

The difference now was that the room had five lifeless Mortys lying on the floor and a dozen of Ricks inspecting and photographing them. The boy's head started spinning. "W-what...are t-they-"

"Dead?" The Rick that had been talking to them took a sloppy swing out of his flask. "Y-yeah, poor fuckers couldn't take it. You're the lucky one. The strongest from the litter."

Morty felt like all the blood had been drained from his body. It was him that had kidnapped them after all. It was _him_ that had led them to their death. "N-no." Another one of Rick's games had caused so much misery.

"Pull your shit together, Morty." Rick said. "There will be plenty of time for whining after we deal with the motherfucker."

"W-where is he?" Morty questioned.

"Gone. What did you think?"

Morty didn't know what he had been thinking but it definitely wasn't what was in front of him. He didn't want to look at the bodies and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from them. The boy felt Summer's hand on his shoulder but it only seemed to make matters worse for him as it reminded him of how real the whole situation was.

"Your Rick is probably on the other side of the multiverse by now." The Citadel Rick said. "Well, those idiots over there are trying to find him but we can't trace his portal gun." He walked over to two other Ricks working on some kind of machine.

Just then a realization hit Morty. Rick's plan had worked. He had become invisible.

"What do you want from him anyway, huh?" Morty asked.

"I thought your half-melted brain would catch on by now." Rick commented not even bothering to look at him. "Oh, the son of a bitch has been planning this for a _long_ time. Gathering supplies, fucking with us and now this whole mess." He gestured at the bodies. "All so that he could finally disappear."

Morty's brain did feel half-melted in that moment. Of course this had been a plan all along. Of course Rick had been using him all this time for his selfish motives, not caring that his grandson could die along with many other versions of him. None of that ever mattered to him.

In that moment Morty knew that no matter what happened next he would never forgive Rick for this. He would never allow him back into their family even if he would have to fight his mother on that. Their family had to be protected from Rick. _Hell_ , the whole multiverse.

"How do we take him down?" Morty asked, determined to fix things for his grandfather one last time.


	15. Chapter 15: The Dawn

**A/N: And so after some time we've reached the end. Am I satisfied with the ending? More or less. I could have done better. But if I try to make a story perfect then it ends up never being finished. It was one of those stories that I _felt_ but could never quite find the right words, the right way, to write it. Still, I'm glad I wrote it. With that being said I have some ideas for a possible sequel or one/two-shots. We'll see how it goes. No promises for now! Okay, enough of me rambling. Hopefully you like the conclusion. Thank you for reading and reviewing. **

**Warning: at the end it gets a bit graphic**

 _ **Love you all, Nat**_

* * *

What happened on Achainia on the second day of its solar year would often be referred to as _the Achainia incident_ among Ricks. It wasn't a taboo subject, a cautionary tale passed from one Rick to another in hushed voices. No, the kindest of Ricks would just roll their eyes whenever they heard about it and the more indifferent ones would talk about it as if it were just a funny anecdote.

Some Mortys would be horrified that their Ricks were like that, while others, more experienced ones weren't surprised. They had already learned that Ricks don't care about Mortys.

* * *

Morty hadn't even noticed that there were wires sticking out of his head. Now he was sat on the floor of his grandfather's lab while one of the Ricks, the loser Rick, as they fondly called him was trying to check if they could somehow contact his Rick through them.

"Stay still." Loser Rick murmured through gritted teeth as Morty wiggled.

But the boy was having a hard time as all the manipulating with the wires was making the pain worse again. "Are you done?" He couldn't even make himself be nice.

Rick only rolled his eyes while Summer who hadn't left his side since he woke up squeezed his shoulder. "Shh, stay calm, Morty. This is the only way that we can find grandpa Rick."

Morty nodded his head only to realize how incredibly painful that was. "Right." He said instead knowing just how much _he_ needed to find Rick.

"Oh, shit. I think I've got something!" Loser Rick said glancing at the monitor. "Guess who will no longer be called loser Rick?"

Soon a dozen or so of Ricks gathered around the boy and the computer screen. They all had their gazes locked on some pattern shown on the screen that Morty knew he wouldn't understand. "Can you make the last brain cells of your half-melted brain function?" One of the Ricks asked. "You'll talk to the motherfucker but he can't know that we're here."

"Okay." Morty agreed.

"You….you've got to get him to come back down here." He continued. "And then we catch him. The stupid members of the council will lick our balls. And then promote us!" All the Ricks cheered. "All drinks on me!" Another round of cheerful yelling.

"Wait? What?" Summer cut in folding her arms over her chest. "You want to arrest him?"

"Duh." Rick said. "What were you thinking, you dumb bitch?" Another round, this time of crude insults directed at Summer, echoed through the room.

"Morty, say something!" She said.

But Morty couldn't agree with them more. "Rick deserves what's coming for him, Summer. After all that he's done."

"I'm sure it's not all that bad." She said, though her voice betrayed her. The girl didn't sound convinced at all.

"He killed five other versions of me." Morty said.

Summer averted her gaze. "Y-yeah? So what? I'm sure he can bring them back with all his science-y stuff." She said. "Or they're not even dead at all."

"Doubtful." One of the Ricks said. "Either way the fucker gets arrested and I get promoted."

"Are we done with the bullshit?" Another one asked. "Good. Let's get down to business then."

Summer looked as if she wasn't done at all but she could clearly see that no one was one her side, not even her brother. So instead she just looked away from the whole scene.

One of the Ricks put massive headphones over Morty's ears while another typed something on the keyboard. They all sat in silence for a few minutes until Morty heard engine sounds ringing in his ears. One of the Ricks gestured at him to start speaking.

"Rick?" His voice cracked but he continued. "A-are you there?"

There was a moment of silence which made Morty wonder if the device was really working. "Morty? Is that you?" But it was working and as soon as the boy heard his grandfather's voice he realized that it all wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped.

Rick didn't sound like himself at all. A thought crossed Morty's mind that maybe it wasn't his Rick at all and it was just a part of some overly elaborate scheme that one Rick or another was pulling on him.

But there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that this was real. That it was the Rick he had shared a thousand of adventures with. Now it seemed like it had happened in a different lifetime. "Y-yeah." Morty managed to say. He quickly reminded himself that his sentiments were just another proof of how the stupid and naive part of him had to be eradicated.

"I thought I killed you." For a moment there was more emotion in his voice than Morty had ever heard. But the moment was over quickly. "Well, in this case, there's a launch pod in the lab. Get inside and get in here."

Morty couldn't believe what he was hearing. A sudden wave of rage overtook his body and he had a strong desire to destroy something, preferably the old man himself. "What the fuck, Rick?" All sets of bloodshot eyes focused on the boy. "You...you killed them all! You thought you killed me too! And now...now you don't even care!"

"W-what are you talking about, Morty? Of course I care!" Morty knew he was lying, the only thing he was ever good for. Lying, deceiving and betraying. "Listen, Morty. I really don't have time for this bullshit right now. I messed up, yeah, yeah. Is that what you want to hear from me?"

One of the Ricks nudged him in the ribs making him nearly cry out in pain. The man mouthed at Morty to get to the point. "I'm...I'm hurt." He said, not knowing how else he could convince Rick to come back.

"Jeez, Morty. Stop behaving like a little bitch."

"No. I'm _injured_." Morty spat out through greeted teeth, fighting with himself. He knew he needed to stay calm for Rick to get what he deserved. But it was so hard to stay in control. " _Everything_ hurts." He moaned. "I can barely move. You need to come get me."

"For God's sake." Rick muttered. "Fine. I'll be there in a few. Stay put. It'll take a while since the plan didn't work and I can't use the fucking portal gun."

The call ended and Morty let out a shaky breath. "I told you it was a shitty idea." Summer said resting her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Well, thanks for your useless input." One of the Rick said. "The dipshit's coming. Now what?"

"The plan is to take the fucker down. End of story." Another one said with a smirk. "I can't wait to see his stupid-ass face when I handcuff him." He clanked his flask with yet another Rick as they both laughed.

"You're really stupid if you think our grandpa doesn't have a genius plan up his sleeve. He's a genius." Summer said.

"Oh, is that so, Summer?" One of the Ricks asked. "I'd like to remind you that we're all geniuses and there's fiftten of us. He's just one."

Summer stayed silent just squeezing Morty's shoulder so hard that it hurt.

* * *

A few hours later something came up on the radar. A ship was coming towards the planet. Rick's ship. Morty wasn't bothered by it. He just wanted this whole mess to be over so that he could take his sister and go back home, put everything behind and start fresh. Or at least attempt to.

They all braced themselves for Rick's arrival. Despite claiming it to be a _rickdiculous_ easy task (their words) they still had their weapons ready as they positioned themselves around the hatch.

Morty watched it from afar with his sister next to him. The girl was complaining, wailing and later _begging_ her brother to do something to save their grandfather from being arrested. But Morty didn't care. He just watched.

And soon enough the hatch opened and Rick started coming down through the hole. But just as his gaze landed on the other versions of him he sighed loudly. "Well, I guess it's something I should have seen coming." He said jumping down anyway. Other Ricks kept pointing their guns at him but he casually grabbed his flask and took a long swing. "Just didn't think my grandson would turn out to be such a backstabbing rat." He squeezed his eyes and sent a death glare towards Morty.

The boy couldn't lie to himself. Despite everything it still hurt. And it hurt a lot.

Ricks quickly handcuffed him and started congratulating themselves. Despite the job being done they didn't immediately want to go back to the Citadel. Instead they threw Rick into a makeshift cell and started celebrating with drinks and some weird drugs.

"This is what you've done, Morty." Summer said walking towards Rick's cell. "I hope you're proud of himself." She sat down on the floor and turned to Rick. "Are you alright, grandpa?"

"What do you think, Summer?" The man in question asked bitterly. "I'm handcuffed in a shitty cage while the most epic party ever is happening in the other room!"

"Thought you would be more upset about Morty going behind your back and basically causing this whole thing." She said with a shrug.

"Oh, yeah. That too. Thanks for reminding me, Summer." Rick said looking pointedly at his grandson. "What? You think you're better than him? I bet there was something you could have done to warn me." Summer ducked her head in shame. "Yeah. Thought so."

"Don't turn this around, Rick." Morty said trying not to show just how badly hurt he was. "You're a murderer. And a real piece of shit for making me a murderer too."

"Grow up, Morty." Rick said.

"I have." Morty replied aiming to leave the room and go look for something to occupy his mind until it was all over. He tried asking other Ricks to just teleport him and Summer home since they already had his grandfather but they refused that the two of them still had to testify against the old man on the Citadel. So they were stuck there.

Before Morty had a chance to leave the whole underground facility started shaking and the roof broke apart letting in freezing cold air from the outside. And then some unknown Rick appeared in the bunker shooting half of the other Ricks before his feet even touched the ground.

But he couldn't get to all of them and even though they were high and drunk one of them managed to grab Summer and press a gun against the side of her head. "Sending in a different Rick. Smart. Real smart." The one holding Summer said.

"What...what is going on?" The girl asked trying to move her head away from the gun.

"I'll tell you, Summer." Rick said. "I can't believe you were so stupid that you believed that I would just blindly walk into one of their stupid traps." He said moving a little closer and shooting the rest of the Ricks, apart from the one with Summer. "So I grabbed the Rick from a reality nearly identical to this one. The only difference is that he _was_ actually stupid enough to walk blindly into the trap."

"Hey!" The Rick in the cage called.

"Sorry, buddy." He said shooting him as well. "He'd just annoy me."

"Surrender, Rick." The one with the gun against Summer's temple said. "This is over. I've got your grankids."

Morty watched the scene play out in front of his eyes not knowing what he was feeling. He wanted to believe that Rick wouldn't let the other one harm Summer but after all he'd been through he was not sure anymore. Anything could happen.

" _One_ of my grandkids." He pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's the more valuable one. The one that didn't sold you out." The other Rick had an awful smirk attached to his face as he squeezed Summer so hard that she yelped.

"You have a point there." Rick said with a sigh. "So don't let me down now, Morty." He said throwing a gun at Morty.

The boy caught the weapon and held in his hands not knowing what to do with it. Of course he didn't want anything bad to happen to Summer but the only way to keep her truly safe was to keep her as far away from Rick as it was possible. So he dropped the gun and watched as it fell to the floor loudly.

"I'm sorry, Rick." Morty said. "This is over. All of it. You've ruined enough. Just give up and leave us alone."

Rick looked as if Morty's words really hurt him. But the man quickly composed himself and shook his head. "You backstabbing little bitch. What the fuck do you think it is, huh? If you want your sister to come out of this alive pick up the damn gun."

"No." Morty said simply. "Surrender."

"We've got everything that you want." Another voice echoed as yet another Rick entered through the broken roof. "Your grandkids. _This_." He opened up his fist and on his palm rested a small device, one that Morty had seen before. The one they had been chasing him after. "It's over, Rick."

Rick's eyes widened out as he looked at the small object. "Guess, it wasn't a good idea to leave the car unattended."

"Drop the gun. It's over." The new Rick said. "Save your granddaughter while you still can."

Rick looked desperate. His hand shook but the gun was still pointed at the Rick holding Summer. "Or maybe there's not enough at stake for you? Maybe you want to raise it a little bit?" His index finger hovered over the device still on the palm of his other hand. "How about I press this button and erase your home dimension from reality, huh? How about that?"

"You wouldn't do that, you son of a bitch." Morty's grandfather said. "It's illegal. Your sorry ass would wind up in jail."

"Do really think I care?" He asked with his finger still dangerously close to the button. "I'm a _Rick_ for crying out loud. Maybe not as crude and brute like the rest of you but still a Rick nonetheless. And as we both know rules don't apply to Ricks."

"Now would be a really good time to pick up that gun, Morty." Rick said.

But Morty kept reminding himself that his grandfather was the villain of this story and the other Rick had to be bluffing to get him to surrender. Morty believed that with every fiber of his being.

"Oopsie, time's up." Rick said pressing the button. "Now there's only Summer you can save. Mike a wise choice."

All the blood in Morty's vines froze. No, this couldn't be real. Rick had to be tricking them. But as he looked at his grandfather's terrified face he realized that it was painfully real. Rick was a lot of things but he wasn't stupid. If he believed that it was true then it more than likely was.

The boy had trouble grasping that everything that he loved was now gone. One final misery that Rick had caused. He looked quickly at Summer and made a decision. He picked the gun off the floor and pointed it at one of the Ricks.

He fired and another two shots followed from the other guns. Soon enough two Ricks was dead but Summer was also injured. Luckily she was only shot in her leg. She fell down onto the floor, yelping in pain and disgust as she landed on her kidnapper's lifeless body.

Morty quickly ran up to her side to check her wound. It was bleeding quite a lot but he hoped she would be fine. There was only the three of them left. Summer, Morty and their grandfather. And as much resentment as Morty held for Rick he knew that Summer desperately needed his help.

But when he turned he realized that his grandfather was more interested in the device that had just killed everything and everyone that they loved. The boy walked up to Rick and pushed his lanky body. "Help Summer." He said harshly wanting to murder him with his bare hands.

But Rick wouldn't even look at his grandson. "There are some medical supplies in the lab. Go and get it. I need to take care of this first."

"Are you fucking kidding me? After everything you won't even help her?" Morty asked feeling himself lose it.

"I know your little mind won't get it but if I don't take care of this now universe after universe will keep disappearing, including this one. Summer can wait. I've had worse." Rick was still tinkering with the machine so Morty pushed him, and punched him and kicked him.

"Are you fucking nuts, Morty? Calm the fuck down!" Rick said as the device fell out of his hand and rolled down the floor. It started glowing red. "Great. Another one gone. Thank you very much, Morty."

"You won't help her? Fine. Then I don't want you here at all." He said already exiting the room.

"Yeah? Too bad 'cause I'm not going anywhere."

But Morty was already exiting the room and searching for his old bedroom. He ignored Summer's soft cries knowing that she would be alright for a couple of more minutes. He entered the bedroom and surely under the bed there was the glowing green portal gun.

He grabbed it and marched back where Rick was. Not really caring what would happen next he pushed a random button and directed the beam at his grandfather. Sure enough the old man was gone before he knew it without a single complaint.

When he was alone with Summer he finally let out a long shaky breath not knowing how to process what had just happened. He had too be too high on the adrenaline to really register what was happening. What he had done. What Rick had done.

Once he was done heaving his whole body shook but Morty forced himself to go back to Summer to finally help her. But when he reached her he noticed that the pool of blood had grown dangerously big. And Summer's face was pale, sickly pale, her head rested against the wall with her eyes closed.

"Oh, God. What have I done." Morty said to himself checking if she was still breathing. Luckily she was. So he ran to the lab not really knowing what he was looking for. After a while he found some pills and bandages and came back. There had to be something more useful. Something that would heal Summer immediately but only Rick knew where to find it and how to use it. And he wasn't there.

Morty knelt down next to Summer and started bandaging her injured leg. But his attempt was pathetic as the blood quickly drenched the while fabric making it scarlet red. But Morty didn't give up and kept bandaging and bandaging. He kept doing that until he realized that Summer's chest stopped falling and raising.

But she was the only remaining person that he loved. The only person that he cared about. He couldn't let her go like that. So he put pressure above her leg thinking that he probably should have done that much sooner and tried to give her a CPR forgetting that he never particularly cared when they showed how to do it at his school. So he didn't know how to do it.

After a while everything was drenched in blood and Summer's body was cold and white, almost purple. Morty looked down at himself realizing that the blood had mixed with his tears. He was sobbing and he hadn't even realized it.

He stopped trying to save Summer and instead clang to her, hugging her and trying to keep warm. Maybe that would help. Maybe she just needed a little warmth to make her blood move through her body again.

But of course it wasn't the case making Morty finally admit that his sister was dead. Because of him. He had killed her. Maybe it wasn't his bullet that had shot through her but it was his rage that had caused her to suffer while he was fighting with Rick.

Morty looked around, at all the dead bodies, at all the chaos and destruction they had caused. He cried, then fell asleep on the cold floor in the pile of blood, and then cried some more. He cried for Summer, for Rick, for the dead universe and he cried for himself.

* * *

Morty spent days in the bunker. Walking around in blood-drenched clothes, having for company only the ghosts of his past. He had thought that Rick would eventually come back but he never did. And it was probably for the best. He would kill him when he saw him.

After a while Morty started having vivid dreams containing graphic scenes of all the ways that he could kill Rick. Oh, there were so many different ways. So many ways that he could get his and Summer's revenge. Rick deserved it more than anyone.

It took weeks but eventually Morty stopped crying and started plotting his revenge. It would be years in the making but at the end it would be worth it. And when the feelings of loss started fading into a numb sensation that he was growing to like another feeling resurfaced. But it was a physical pain that came back. The pain in his head that Rick, of course, had inflicted on him. Yet another reason to seek vengeance.

So Morty left the bodies to rot, all but one. He buried Summer in the cold and hard ground promising at the same time that her pain and suffering wouldn't go in vain.

Then he went to the lab and picked up a few things that he didn't know what could be used for. They could be valuable however. With that he grabbed the portal gun and exited the bunker that he had grown to hate.

He walked through the dead fields watching one of the suns rise. It was a small and pale one but it still managed to warm his face a little bit. He walked some more but soon stopped and realized that it was time to start the plan.

Morty looked down at the damn portal gun, a device that had caused him nothing but pain and suffering. Not it would be his salvation. He pressed the randomize button, the very same one he had pressed a century ago and the green portal appear in front of him.

When a few weeks later a delegation of Ricks from the Citadel landed on the planet to retrieve a team that they were sure had been partying they were in for quite a shock. What they found were only dead bodies of both Ricks and Mortys, and destruction. They kept arguing over what could have gone down. They made bets and stupid drinking games out of it but never came to any conclusion.

Only Morty knew everything from beginning to end. And as he walked through the portal into an unknown land, he promised himself that he would never look back. He would find Rick and serve him the justice he had escaped so many times. And how would he know it was him in the sea of identical Ricks?

Oh, he'd _know_.


End file.
